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BIOGRAPHY 



OF 



COLONEL CHARLES S. TODD. 



4^ 







2-7/s?. 



M E i\I O I R 



OF 



Col. Chas. S. Todd. 



p. Y 



G. W. GRIFFIN, 

U. S. CONSUL AT COPENHAGEN, 
AUTHOR OF "STUDIES IN LITERATURE," ETC., EIC. 




PHILADELPHIA: 
CLAXTON, REMSEN & HAFFELFINGER. 

1873- 



£7-340 



Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1872, by 

CLAXTON. REMSEN & HAFFELFINGER, 

■"c the OfSce of the Librarian of Congress at Washington. 

STEREOTYPED BY J. PAGAN t SON, PHILADELPHIA. 



ritlNTKll IIV MOORE BROTriBnS, 

Fr.iiiklin lliiildinpn. Sixth St., below Arch, 
riiiladvlpbia. 






^c 







TO 

THE HON. JOHN SCOTT HARRISON 

THIS VOLUME IS DEDICATED, AT THE 
EXPRESSED WISH OF HIS FATHER'S 
EARLY FRIEND, WHOSE LIFE 
AND HISTORY ARE RE- 
CORDED IN IT. 








IN the publication of this volume, I can but feel that 
the people of Kentucky, and of the West, will take 
some degree of interest in the perusal of a work devoted 
to the life and public services of one who played such a 
prominent part in the history of the times in which he 
lived. 

Since this volume was ready for the press, I found, 
among some papers left at my disposal by Colonel Todd 
a short time before his death, a manuscript copy of a 
lecture he delivered in 1849, at Frankfort, Ky., on " Russia, 
her Resources, Religion, Literature, &c." Colonel Todd's 
residence in Russia, in the capacity of United States 
Minister to that country, his fine classical education and 
taste in literature, gave him many advantages for the 
investigation of the history and resources of that semi- 
barbarous nation about which so little is known even to 
this day. I have, for these reasons, thought best to print 
the lecture entire in this memoir. 

I have also embraced in this work, to the exclusion of 
much matter of my own, a number of Colonel Todd's 
speeches and state papers; and also some extended ex- 
tracts from a work entitled " Sketches of the Civil and 

vii 



VIU PREFACE. 

Military Services of William Henry Harrison," by Colonel 
Todd and Mr. Benjamin Drake. This book is now out 
of print ; but it had in its day a v^ery large sale. It was 
published by G. P. James, of Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1840. 
More than twenty thousand copies were sold, and as 
many more were distributed, in pamphlet form, through- 
out the country as a campaign document. 

Colonel Todd, on one occasion, pointed out to me such 
passages of the book as were written by himself, and 
those written by Mr. Drake. 

Colonel Todd, as many of my readers doubtless know, 
bore a very prominent part in the election of Harrison, 
which was perhaps the most exciting Presidential canvass 
in the history of the country. 

Many a story have I heard, when a boy, from the lips 
of my dear and venerated grandfather, of that interesting 
epoch, so familiarly known as the Log Cabin or Hard 
Cider Campaign. My grandfather was a very zealous 
Democrat, and he used to tell me how much the enthu- 
siasm of the Whigs annoyed him at that time. " For once, 
and only once," he said, " in the history of our country, did 
the Whig speeches, and barbecues, and banners, and trans- 
parencies, and cannon, strike terror into the hearts of the 
Untcrrificd:' 

I remember his telling me, on one occasion, of some 
of the most enthusiastic Harrison men carrying, in the 
midst of a great parade through the streets of Louisville, 
an immense log cabin on their shoulders, the weight of 
which would have been enough to crush them to death, 
had it not been for their enthusiasm and the shouts of 
thousands of people enlivening their march. 

In one of these parades, Jim Porter, the great Kentucky 



PREFACE. IX 

giant, who was by far the tallest man in all the world, 
appeared, wearing a large coon-skin cap, and dressed in 
a hunter's uniform made of deer-skin and trimmed with 
bright-colored fringe. He swung his great rifle, which was 
over eight feet long, across his huge shoulders, and excited 
the utmost delight and astonishment wherever he went. 

Some years afterward, I went to see the great giant at 
Shippingport, a little town a few miles below Louisville, 
where he then resided. I expressed to him my deep regret 
at not having been able to see him in that famous parade, 
when he very kindly opened' a wardrobe, and donned his 
coon - skin cap and gay uniform - coat. He presented a 
magnificent picture to my boyish sight, before which all 
my wildest dreams about giants paled into utter insigni- 
ficance, and even to-day I think of that interview with no 
ordinary satisfaction and delight. " Those were great 
times," said the giant, " that we had in the Hard - Cider 
Campaign. We shall not see the like again." And in- 
deed, judging from all that I have heard in regard to that 
memorable canvass, few, I think, will be inclined to dis- 
agree with him. 

I could relate many such incidents, interesting enough, 
doubtless, in their way; but I have preferred to give in the 
following pages the more solid facts of history, and I have 
given them as well as I could. 







CHAPTER I. 

The Author's first Acquaintance with Colonel Todd — Characteristics of vT 
Colonel Todd as a Writer and a Man 13 

CHAPTER H. 

Birth and Parentage of Colonel Todd — Sketch of his Father, Judge 
Thomas Todd — Education of Young Todd 16 

CHAPTER HI. 

War of 1812 — Young Todd volunteers and is rapidly Promoted — His 
Gallantry — Battle of the Thames — McArthur's Expedition — Todd's 
Distinguished Services 21 

CHAPTER IV. 

Colonel Todd resumes the Practice of the Law at Frankfort — Becomes 
interested in Masonry — His Address before Mt. Horan Lod<:;e — He 
is married to Miss Shelby 28 

CHAPTER V. 

Colonel Todd is appointed Secretary of State — His Election to the 
Legislature over Judge Marshall and Judge Bibb — His Re-election 
over General Hardin — Is appointed Minister to Bogota — His Dis- 
charge of his Mission approved by John Q. Adams — He returns to the 
United States, and settles on a Farm in Shelby County, Kentucky — His 
Intelligence and Enterprise as a Farmer — His Services to Agriculture 35 

CHAPTER VI. 

The Harrison Campaign — Colonel Todd one of its Master-Spirits — 
He removes to Cincinnati, and takes Charge of the Cincinnati 
Republican — He speaks as well as writes — He, in Conjunction 
with Benjamm Drake, prepares a Life of General Harrison — Ex- 
tracts from this Work — Incidents of the Campaign 45 

CHAPTER VII. 

General Harrison expresses his Gratitude for Colonel Todd's Services — 
His Appointment as Minister to Russia — Success of His Mission — 
Felicitous Speech of Colonel Todd at a Banquet in St. Petersburg — 
Motley and Maxwell in his Official Family — Colonel Todd's Visit to 
the Interior of Russia — Important Despatches 7S 

xi 



Xll CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER VIII. 

PAGE 

Colonel Todd returns to Frankfort — Delivers a Lecture on Russia — 
Withdraws from a Contest for the Governorship of Kentucky — Ac- 
cepts the Office of Commissioner under the Mexican Treaty — Ad- 
vocates a Railroad to the Pacific 9° 

CHAPTER IX. 

Colonel Todd prepares a Series of Articles on Texas — Letter from 
Daniel Webster to Colonel Todd — Colonel Todd prepares a Sketch of 
Tecumseh for the Louisville Journal — He proposes to write the Early 
History of Kentucky — An Incident in the College Life of Colonel 
Todd — His Confidential Report to the War Department in 1815 122 

CHAPTER X. 

Colonel Todd takes an Active Part in the Taylor Campaign — His 
Characteristics as a Popular Orator — His Opinions of Jeflerson and 
Jackson — His Acquaintance with the Presidents — His Admiration 
of Madison — His Accomplishments as a Man of the World — His 
Moral Characteristics — Anecdote of Bernadotte, King of Sweden 127 

chaptp:r XI. 

Colonel Todd's Embarrassed Fortunes — His Personal Resemblance to 
Louis Philippe — Anecdote of that Monarch — Colonel Todd's Zeal 
for the Preservation of the Union — His Claim to a High Military Ap- 
pointment in the Civil War acknowledged but not discharged — Evil 
Eft'ects of Conferring Militaiy Appointments on Civilians — Colonel 
Todd's Military Talents — He severs his Connection with the Gazette... 133 

CHAPTER XII. 

Colonel Todd's Friendship for the Author — His Opinion of Actors and 
Acting — His Exalted Estimate of the Character of Dr. Theodore S. 
Bell — A Letter to the Author — Colonel Todd's Address before the 
Perry Monument Association — Friendship between Colonel Todd and 
the Hon. J. Scott Harrison '37 

chaptp:r XIII. 

Letter from the Hon. William C. Rives to Colonel Todd — Colonel Todd 
prepares several Articles for Dr. Sprague's " National Portrait Caller)" 
— Dr. Si)rague's Acknowledgments — Governor Shelby's Pride in 
Colonel Todd — Colonel Todd's Last Illness— His Death 143 

APPENDIX. 

Correspondence of Colonel Todd with the Colombian General San- 
lander — Memoir of Governor Shelby '47 



BIOGRAPHY 



OF 



COLONEL CHARLES S.TODD. 



CHAPTER I. 



The Author's first Acquaintance with Colonel Todd — Characteristics of 
Colonel Todd as a Writer and a Man. 

I DID not become personally acquainted with the 
distino-uishecl soldier and statesman who forms 
the subject of this memoir until the spring of 1867. 
We had, however, been associated some time pre- 
viously in the editorial management of the Louisville 
Industrial a7id Commercial Gazette. At that time he 
resided in Owensboro, Kentucky, where he prepared 
no inconsiderable portion of the editorial matter for 
the paper. He was a quick and fluent writer, and 
almost every mail was sure to bring something from 
his pen. I was forcibly struck by the readiness with 
which he comprehended all the plans of the paper, 
and by the spirit and determination with which he 
entered into them. It seemed that the slightest hint 
from the publisher that an article was desired upon 
any subject was all that was necessary to have him 
produce it in the most complete and satisfactory 

13 



14 BIOGRAPHY OF COLONEL CHARLES S. TODD. 

manner. He displayed a knowledge of every sub- 
ject upon which he wrote that was really extraordi- 
nary. He seemed to have a high and a noble purpose 
in everything that he undertook. He had been all 
his life a very active and energetic man. He was a 
highly accomplished classical scholar. He scorned 
to make a show of knowledge which he did not pos- 
sess. He was a thorough hater of all shams and 
conceits. All the best attributes of humanity were 
centred in him. There was not a particle of selfish- 
ness in his nature. There was no ostentation about 
him. He possessed dignity without haughtiness, and 
a courafre which no mortal man could overcome. He 
was of a very kind disposition. He seemed to have 
lived always in an interchange of the gentlest offices. 
He never allowed trifles to fret and annoy him. He 
was in every respect a perfect model of a Christian 
gentleman. He could not do a mean or a little act. 
No weeds of bitterness ever grew in his manly 
bosom. He was a good man, a true man, and a 
brave man. I shall never forcret the first time I saw 
hini. I was busy one morning writing at my desk 
upon a subject that I knew very little about. I could 
not write a single line that seemed to me to have any 
sense in it. My poor brain was taxed almost beyond 
endurance, antl 1 was about to give up in despair, 
when I haj)pened to cast my eyes toward the door, 
and saw a tine-looking, elderly gentleman, with the 
kindliest face in tlie world, advancing toward me. 
He seemed lo understand, as if 1)\- intuition, the 
nature of my trouble, and I immediately rose to 
speak lo him and tell him m\' name and ask his in 
return. He did not give me an opportunil)', but 



BIOGRAPHY OF COLONEL CHARLES S. TODD. I 5 

took me by both hands, and said, "If I judge cor- 
recdy, you are my editorial associate." I bowed an 
assent, when he said, " I liave often helped you be- 
fore, my young friend, and I beg the pleasure of be- 
ine allowed to do so atrain." He immediately sat 
down at m\- desk, and, after looking at my article, 
which was entitled, "The Duty of the Government to 
repair the Levees of the Mississippi," he smiled 
pleasandy, tore off the heading and pasted it on 
another slip of paper, and wrote, in about ten or 
fifteen minutes, one of the best articles ever written 
upon this subject. It is scarcely necessary for me 
to say that I was grateful for the kindness of my ben- 
efactor, and tried to make known to him my grati- 
tude in the best way I could. He rose from his seat, 
and, again taking me by both hands, said, " It is in 
our power to be of much help to one another. You 
have youth, and I experience, which, perhaps, next 
to an unsullied conscience, is the most valuable thing 
in this life." He did not part from me without giv- 
ing me a verv cordial invitation to visit him at the 
residence of his son, Mr. Isaac Shelby Todd, where 
he said he would remain for several weeks, and 
would expect me every day until I called. 

Such was the beeinnincj of one of the most charm- 
ing acquaintances of my life, and I record with no 
litde satisfaction that from that time up to the day 
of his death the warmest feelings of personal friend- 
ship existed between us. 

When he died I lost one of the best and truest 
friends I ever had. I shall not see his like again in 
this world, but the memory of his love and unremit- 
ting kindness will ever be to me a pleasure inesti- 



t6 biography of colonel CHARLES S. TODD. 

mable. In endeavoring to give some account of his 
life and public services, I shall not attempt anything 
like a panegyric or eulogy upon his character, but 
will try to relate faithfully and conscientiously some 
important incidents in the history of Kentucky and 
of the nation, and to describe, in a plain, truthful, and 
straightforward manner, the characteristics of a man 
who for more than half a century was felt to be a 
power in the land, and who was loved, honored, and 
respected by all who knew him. 



CHAPTER II. 



Birth and Parentage of Colonel Todd — Sketch of his Father, Judge Thomas 
Todd — Education of Young Todd. 

CHARLES STEWART TODD was born on 
the 22d of January, 1791, between Danville 
and Stanford, Kentuck)-, in the old county of Lincoln. 
At the time of his birth, the State was not a member 
of the confederacy. It was in what is called the 
transition period, but was jiassing rapidly from the 
jjioneer stage to the dignity of an established and 
well-reeulated commonwealth. The Hon. Thomas 
Todd, the father of the subject of this sketch, was 
one of the most eminent men in the nation. He 
immii/rated to Krntuckv from X'irsjinia when about 
twenty years of age. I le chose the profession of the 
law, antl devoted himself so earnestly to its duties 
that he soon became known as one of the ablest 
lawyers in the Western country. The honors ot his 



KIOGRAPHY OF COLONEL CHARLES S. TODD. I 7 

profession came thick and rapidly upon him. His 
counsel was sought not only at home but abroad. 
He rose to the position of chief justice, the highest 
judicial office of the State. It is said that his means 
were so limited that he studied his profession by 
fire-li<'ht. 

Some idea of his ability can be formed from the 
marvellous facility with which he comprehended the 
difficulties of the celebrated Land Law of Virginia 
of 1779. In the passage of this law, the legislative 
authorities neglected to provide for a general survey 
of the State, but authorized every owner of a land- 
warrant to make his own entry and survey. The 
owner, of course, located his land-warrant wherever 
he chose, but was required to do so in such a way 
that a subsequent locater could enter the adjoin- 
ing land. The system of registration under no cir- 
cumstances could have been more defective. It was 
with the greatest difficulty that a title could be estab- 
lished at all. As a natural consequence, intermi- 
nable disputes and litigation followed. 

The Ingenuity and talent of the greatest lawyers 
In America were called into requisition. No one, 
however, achieved a greater reputation In the ad- 
justment of these perplexing difficulties than Judge 
Todd. His success was such that President Jeffer- 
son, in 1807, called him to a seat on the Supreme 
Federal Bench. He held this position until his 
death. His friend and associate. Justice Story, pro- 
nounced the following tribute to his memory : " Mr. 
Jusdce Todd possessed many qualities admirably 
fitted for the proper discharge of judicial functions. 
He had uncommon patience and candor in investi- 

3 



1 8 BIOGRArHY OF COLONEL CHARLES S. TODD. 

gation ; great clearness and sagacity of judgment; a 
cautious but steady energy ; a well-balanced indepen- 
dence ; a just respect for authority, and, at the same 
time, an untlinching adherence to his own deliberate 
Opinions of the law. His modesty imparted a grace 
to an integrity and singleness of heart which won 
for him the oreneral confidence of all who knew him. 
He was not ambitious of innovations upon the set- 
tled principles of the law, but was content with the 
more unostentatious character of walking in the 
trodden paths of jurisprudence — 'super antiquas 
vias leo-is.' From his diffident and retirinor habits, it 
required a long acquaintance with him jusdy to ap- 
preciate his judicial as well as his personal merits. 
His learnin;^ was of a useful and solid cast ; not. 
perhaps, as various or as comprehensive as that of 
some men, but accurate and transparent, and appli- 
cable to the daily purposes of the business of human 
life. In his knowledge of the local law of Kentucky 
he was excelled by few, and his brethren drew 
largely upon his resources to administer that law, in 
the numerous cases which then crowded the docket 
of the Supreme Court from that judicial circuit ; what 
he did not know he never affected to possess, but 
sedulously sought to acquire. He was content to 
learn without assuming to dogmatize. Hence he 
listened to an argument for the purpose of instruc- 
tion and securing examination, and not merely lor 
that of confutation or tlebate. Among his associates 
he enjoyed an envial)le respect, which was constandy 
increasing as he became more familiarly known to 
them. ilis death was deemed by them a great 
public calamity, and in the memory of those who 



BIOGRAPHY OF COLONEL CHARLES S. TODD. 1 9 

survive liim his name has ever been cherished with 
a warm and affectionate remembrance. No man 
ever clune to the Constitution of the United States 
with a more stronof and resohite attachment. And 
in the grave cases which were agitated in the Su- 
preme Court of the United States during his judicial 
hfe, he steadfastly supported the constitutional doc- 
trines which Mr. Chief Justice Marshall promulgated 
in the name of the Court. It is to his honor, and it 
should be spoken, that, though bred in a different 
political school from that of the Chief Jusdce, he 
never failed to sustain those great principles of con- 
stitudonal law on which the security of the Union de- 
pends. He never gave up to party what he thought 
belonged to the country. For some years before his 
death he was sensible that his health was declining, 
and that he mieht soon leave the bench, to whose 
true honor and support he had been so long and 
zealously devoted. To one of his brethren, who had 
the satisfaction of possessing his unreserved confi- 
dence, he often communicated his earnest hope that 
Mr. Justice Trimble might be his successor, and he 
bore a willing testimony to the extraordinary ability 
of that eminent judge. It affords a striking proof of 
his sagacity and foresight; and the event fully justi- 
fied the wisdom of his choice. Although Mr. Justice 
Trimble occupied his station on the bench of the Su- 
preme Court for a brief period only, yet he has left 
on the records of the Court endurinij monuments of 
talents and learning fully adequate to all the exigen- 
cies of the judicial office. To both of these distin- 
guished men, under such circumstances, we may well 
apply the touching panegyric of the poet: 



20 BIOGRAPHY OF COLONEL CHARLES S. TODD. 

' Fortunati ambo ; 
Nulla dies unquam memori vos eximet avo.' " 

Judg-e Todd gave every attention to the education 
of his son. He encouraged him to cultivate a taste 
not only for the classics but for almost every species 
of knowled^re. 

Young Todd was placed at an early age at the 
Transylvania Seminary at Lexington, Kentucky, ior 
the purpose of preparing for a more thorough course 
of study at the celebrated college of William and 
Mary in Virginia. He graduated at this last-named 
institution of learning in 1809. 

About a year afterward he went to Litchfield, 
Conn., to attend a course of law lectures by judges 
Reeves and Gould. At Litchfield he pursued his 
studies with the utmost energy. He was licensed to 
practise law in iSii, and opened an office in the 
following year at Lexington, Ky. ; but at that time 
the second war with Great Britain broke out, and 
he determined to take part in the contest. 






BIOGRAPHY OF COLONEL CHARLES S, TODD. 21 



CHAPTER III. 

War of 1812 — Young Todd volunteers and is rapidly Promoted — His 
(Gallantry — Battle of the Thames — McArthur's Expedition — Todd's 
distinguished Services. 

THE Spirit of war was nowhere more brilliantly 
illustrated than in Kentucky. The whole 
State, from the Big Sandy to the Mississippi, was 
alive, as it were, with restless energy and activity. 

In the mean time Hull's surrender was announced. 
It served only to add fuel to the flame. Hull was 
at once proclaimed a traitor. No language was suf- 
ficiendy strong to express the detestation in which 
he was held. The Kentucky troops were impatient 
to be led to the scene of action, but they moved 
amid the most distressing circumstances. lliey 
were indifferently armed and wretchedly clothed. 
They suffered privations almost unheard of. The 
country to be crossed was but a succession of 
swamps and marshes. The Secretary of War was 
unable to supply means of transportation. Notwith- 
standino- these obstacles, the ardor and enthusiasm 
of the volunteers remained unabated. 

William Henry Harrison, on whom the President 
had conferred the rank of Major-General, assumed 
command of the forces in the West. Harrison was 
an especial favorite with the Kentucky troops, and 
his appointment served to increase their enthusiasm. 

Youno; Todd was amontr the first to volunteer his 
services, and he was elected ensign in one of the 
Lexington companies, but was soon afterward ap- 



2 2 BIOGRAPHY OF COLONEL CHARLES S. TODD. 

pointed to a position in the Quartermaster-General's 
Department, He was afterward assigned to another 
position, and was soon acdvely engaged against the 
enemy. We learn from McAfee's History of the 
War of 1812, and from Hall's Life of Harrison, that 
in the campaign which followed Colonel Todd ren- 
dered invaluable service. 

General Harrison, in a letter to the War Depart- 
ment, recommended him for a captaincy in the line, 
saying that "he appeared to combine the ardor of 
youth with the maturity of age." 

The campaign terminated in the unfortunate batde 
of the River Raisin. The movement to that point 
was made by General Winchester. It was made m 
violation of Harrison's instrucdons in regard to the 
campaign. Harrison's instructions were conveyed 
by the subject of my sketch from the right wing to 
the left of the army, a distance of one hundred miles, 
through a swampy wilderness. ^McAfee, in his His- 
tory of the War of 181 2, says that "Colonel Todd 
performed the hazardous journey with a secrecy and 
dispatch highly creditable to his enterprise." The 
defeat of Winchester was the defeat of the campaign, 
but measures were taken to obtain command ot the 
lake prior to active operations in the next cam- 
paign. In the mean time the British General Proctor 
attempted to take Camp Meigs on the Maumee, and 
Fort Stevenson on the Sandusky, but both attempts 
were signal failures. 

Harrison made a requisition upon the Governor 
of Kentucky for troo[)s to act in the decisive opera- 
tions of the campaign. The CJovernor, the noble 
and gallant Shelby, around whose peerless name so 



BIOGRAPHY OF COLONEL CFL\RLES S. TODD. 23 

many brieht and olorlous recollections cluster, offered 
to lead the troops in person. Four thousand 
mounted men rallied on thirty days' notice. The 
venerable Governor reached the scene of operations 
just as Perry had obtained command of the lake. 
The crenius of Harrison now shone out in the fulness 
of its splendor. He had entire command of the 
lake, and was ready at any moment to attack De- 
troit and Maiden. The British forces became 
alarmed at the condidon of affairs, and began to re- 
treat. Their Indian allies fast deserted them. Less 
than one half remained faithful in adversity. Even 
the eallantTecumseh refused to share the fortunes of 
Proctor, except on condition that the first favorable 
ofround should be selected for battle. 

The division of Major-General Desha was formed 
at riLrht aneles, which caused it to face the Indian 
line. But, just as the order to advance was about to 
be eiven to Trotter's bricrade of Hennino^'s division, 
information was obtained through Colonel Wood, of 
the Engineers, that the enemy was formed in open 
order. This information decided Harrison to charge 
the Bridsh line with Colonel Johnson's regiment. 
Harrison placed himself at the head of the right bat- 
talion of this regiment. The enemy was unable to 
resist the charge, and gave way in the wildest confu- 
sion. The Indians fought with the utmost despera- 
tion ; but, Tecumseh being killed, they were driven 
from every position they assumed. 

Colonel Todd was emratTed in the battle from the 
beginning to the close. He was by the side of Har- 
rison in the charge upon the British regulars, and 
was despatched with orders to Governor Shelby, 



24 BIOGRArilV OF COLONEL CHARLES S. TODD. 

whose command was stationed at the intersection of 
the two divisions. Colonel Todd, with this portion 
of the army, now participated in the action against 
the Indians, but when the Indians were driven from 
their posidon he was recalled to engage in the pur- 
suit of Proctor. In this pursuit Colonel Todd was 
accompanied by Colonel Wood, Major Payne, Major 
Chambers, and Captain Langham. There is scarcely 
an historian, who has given an account of this en- 
crauement, but makes some honorable mention of 
these gallant and accomplished soldiers. The pur- 
suing force, though unable to overtake Proctor, sue- 
ceeded in capturing his sword, carriage, and papers. 
Wood and Todd were far in advance of the other offi- 
cers. The pursuing party succeeded in capturing quite 
a number of prisoners. A mounted British officer, 
who was among the captured, endeavored treacher- 
ously to shoot Colonel Todd. This attempt was 
instandy discovered by Captain Wood, who struck 
the coward down with his sword. Captain Wood 
was breveted major for gallant conduct in defence ot 
Fort Meigs, lieutenant-colonel for conspicuous service 
at the battle of Lundy's Lane, and colonel for his he- 
roic part in the defence of Fort Erie. He would have 
been made brigadier-general of the elite of die army 
had he not falK-n in the sortie from the Fort on the 
17th of September, 1814. He was wounded in the 
thigh, and was bayoneted while tendering his sword. 
That our readers may form some idea (A the im- 
portance of the victory on the Thames, we give the 
following extract from an article entided "The Mili- 
tary (Genius of Harrison." from the pen of Colonel 
Todd, first printed in 1840, in the Cincinnad Re- 
publican: 



BlOGRAniY OF COLONEL CHARLES S. TODD. 25 

"The strong position of the enemy rendered it 
probable, that, if the American army should be victo- 
rious, the result would be achieved by the loss of 
many gallant men. 

"The British troops occupied the left of the allied 
army, resting upon an unfavorable view, with its 
right extending into swamps filled with Indians 
under Tecumseh. To undertake to turn the Indians' 
rieht w^ould have been hazardous, and certainly at- 
tended with great loss of life. The British line was 
then properly regarded as the weakest point of the 
enemv. In the first instance the charofe was in- 
tended to be made by the infantry, the front of which 
was commanded by Trotter; but the fortunately dis- 
covered error committed by Proctor in opening his 
files led to the brilliant conception of charging with 
the mounted troops of Colonel Johnson. The result 
is known to the world, — an entire British army cap- 
tured and two thousand Indians defeated, with an 
immense loss of life, by less than fifteen hundred 
Americans, whose loss was less than thirty killed 
and forty wounded ; and an end put to the war in 
the Northwest, an important territory restored to the 
United States, and the uppermost part of Canada 
conquered. Other generals have acquired renown 
by great bloodshed, but in the career of Harrison 
we recognize equal glory in the results, with much 
greater prudence and humanity in the preservation 
of the lives of his patriotic soldiers." 

In the fall of 1S14, General McArthur undertook 
an expedition into Canada. Colonel Todd, having 
been previously appointed Assistant Inspector-Gen- 
eral, acted as McArthur's Adjutant-General. It was 



2 6 BIOGRAPHY OF COLONEL CHARLES S. TODD. 

one of the most brilliant and successful expeditions 
of the war. It was organized at Urbana, and 
marched from Detroit. It consisted of seven hun- 
dred mounted men. Its object was to prevent the 
enemy from molesting Michigan. 

Headley, in his "Second War with England," says: 
" It was, however, no holiday march. Expedidon was 
necessary for success. The horses were kept to the 
top of their endurance — straining up acclivities, 
floundering through swamps, struggling with the 
rapid current of rivers. This detachment succeeded 
in penetradng more than two hundred miles into the 
enemy's country, and to within twenty-five miles of 
Burlineton Height. It marched more than four hun- 
dred miles, one hundred and eighty of it through an 
unbroken wilderness, defeated five hundred militia 
strongly posted, killed and wounded twenty-seven 
men, took one hundred and eleven prisoners, and 
returned with a loss of but one man. McArthur 
showed himself a skilful and able commander, while 
his subordinates deserved the hi i^hest covwiendation y 

McAfee, in speaking of this expedition, says (see 
McAfee's History of the War of 1S12, page 453): 
" And thus terminated an expedition which was not 
surpassed during the war in the boldness ot its de- 
sign and the address with which it was conducted. 
It was attended with the loss of one man only on 
our part, while that of the enemy was considerable 
in nun, as well as the injury done to his resources. 
It was with Lrreat difficuhv that General Hrummond 
could subsist his troops, with tlu! aid of all the mills 
in his vicinity, and widiout them his difficulties must 
have been sjrcatlv increased. General McArthur, 



BIOGRAniY OF COLONEL CHARLES S. TODD. 2/ 

who conceiv^ed and conducted the expedition, dis- 
played great bravery and mihtary skill. No one 
could have managed his resources with more pru- 
dence and effect. His officers and men were also 
entitled to the highest praise and gratitude of the 
country for their firmness in danger, and the cheer- 
fulness and fortitude with which they obeyed his 
orders and endured the greatest hardships," 

Major Todd was particularly distinguished. " I 
have the support of all the troops," says General 
McArthur, "in assuring you that to the niilitary skill, 
activity, and intelligence of Major Todd, who acted 
as my Adjutant-General, much of the fortunate pro- 
gress and issue of this expedition is attributable, and 
1 cheerfully embrace this occasion to acknowledge 
the important services which he has at all times ren- 
dered me whilst in command of the district. His 
various merits justly entitle him to the notice of the 
Government." 

The following spring Colonel Todd was promoted 
to the position of Inspector-General of the district. 






28 BIOGRAPHY OF COLONEL CHARLES S. TODD. 



CHAPTER I\; 

Colonel Todd resumes the Practice of the Law at Frankfort — Becomes 
interested in Masonry — His Address before Mt. Horan Lodge — He is 
married to Miss Shelby. 

AT the close of the war, Colonel Todd returned 
to Frankfort, Ky., and resumed the practice of 
the law. He soon became reirarded as one of the 
foremost men at the bar. 

At this time he became very much interested in 
the study of Masonry. He delivered a number of 
addresses on this subject that attracted a good deal 
of attention. The followino- address he delivered 
before the Mt. Horan Lodge, at Frankfort, June 24th, 
181 5. It displays in an able and learned manner the 
precepts of this noble brotherhood : 

Worshipful Master, Officers, and Brethren : — Meeting on 
the level of equal privileges, social feelings, and humble 
hearts, let us endeavor, in a concise manner, to do justice 
to the purpose for which we are convened this day — the 
celebration of the anniversary of a distinguished patron of 
Freemasonry, St. John the Baptist. The attempt, it is 
hoped, will be received with that charity which forms a 
main pillar in our ancient edifice ; and, whilst " the imper- 
fections of a brother claim a brother's indulgence," you will 
bear with me in an unadorned exposition of some of the 
fundamental principles of our Order. 

Masonry, if not coeval with mankind, originated with the 
fall o{ man, and with the wants which that fall produced. 
It has, tiierefore, been justly asserted, that the causes more 
immediately contributing to the introduction of the art m.i\- 
be tiaccil to the period of the first sin, since, in the desire 



BIOGRAPHY OF COLONEL CHARLES S. TODD. 29 

to afford a covering and protection to Eve, Adam resorted 
to suitable contrivances, which, upon gradual improvement, 
became the foundation of operative Masonry. Thus in its 
early origin do we recognize that special regard to the fair 
sex which characterizes all true and faithful Masons ; and 
if the most lovely part of creation be denied the beauties 
of the Mystic Order, a satisfactory apology may be found 
in the consideration that their own feelings, open as day to 
melting charity, prompt them to offer balsam to the 
wounded spirit, and their "own hearts are the Lodges in 
which \-irtue presides." 

Man in the pristine ages of barbarism was too fatally in- 
clined to regard as his enemy that fellow-being whom the 
Creator in his wisdom had destined to become the partici- 
pator of his blessings. Consequently, at different periods 
of the world. Masonry was suffered to decline ; but, founded 
as it is on the eternal rock of truth and brotherly love, it 
withstood the shocks of superstition and prejudice, and, in 
proportion to the progress of science and civilization, its 
pillars were strengthened, and further knowledge disclosed 
new beauties. The introduction of the Christian Religion, 
the revival of letters, and the doctrines of Masonry, each 
operating upon the hopes, the understanding, and the heart 
of man, gradually directed his efforts to the purposes of 
civilization; and under their influence it was happily found, 
that, renouncing the contracted views of the selfish in order 
to embrace the more enlivening qualities of the social prin- 
ciple, he threw off the fetters of national animosity, and 
became himself the ardent advocate for the amelioration 
of his species. 

In the history of the character and progress of Masonry, 
we can boast among its members and patrons the most dis- 
tinguished men of every age. Cc-esar, Alfred, and the most 
illustrious monarchs of the British Empire deigned to de- 
scend to the level o{ a brother, and participated in all the 
rites and blessings of the institution. The most pious of 
divines, the most moral of moralists, the most renowned of 



30 BIOGRAPHY OF COLONEL CHARLES S. TODD. 

warriors, the most zealous of patriots, and the rr.ost enlight- 
ened of every art and of every science, have been classed 
among the members of an institution which embraces the 
noblest feelings and the most liberal principles — whose 
canopy is Heaven ! and whose usefulness is commensurate 
with creation ! 

The first corner-stone in Masonry is a belief in the Eter- 
nal God, the Grand Architect of the Universe. With this 
foundation, can its tendency be presumed to be either irre- 
ligious, immoral, or disorganizing? Yet in every age at- 
tempts have been made to inculcate such doctrines ; and, 
even at this day, the horrors of the Inquisition have ex- 
tended to the persecution of the meek and humble tenets 
of brotherly love. In regard to the secrec}- with which our 
proceedings are conducted, it may be proper to remark that 
benefits which are common and easily procured are but 
slightly appreciated. It is the veneration created by im- 
penetrable mystery, added to the usefulness and moral 
worth which ought to distinguish Masons, that has pre- 
served it unimpaired through the lapse of ages; for " Ma- 
sonry is not only the most ancient, but the most moral in- 
stitution that ever subsisted. Every character, figure, and 
emblem depicted in a Lodge, has a moral tendency, and 
inculcates the practice of xirtue." 

Upon entering the Lodge, we (//rrsf ourselves, as far as 
practicable, of all the follies, the vanities, the petty ambi- 
tion, the vexation, and the turmoil to which an intercourse 
with the world necessarily exposes us. In the bosom of the 
Lodge, private animosity, family jealousy, political bicker- 
ings, and religious altercation are forgotten; and, in the lan- 
guage of our excellent Constitution, we may say that " free- 
dom of opinion thus indulged, but its points never discussed, 
is the happy influence untler which the unity of this honor- 
able societ\' has been preser\etl from time immemorial — 
upon which account Masonr)' has become the centre of 
union, ami the means of conciliating among those that 
might otherwise have remained at a perpetual distance, 



BIOGRArHY OF COLONEL CHARLES S. TODD. 3! 

causin"- thcni to love as brethren and heirs of the same 
hope, partaking of the same promises, children of the same 
God, and candidates for the same Heaven." And, again, 
" Masons, being declared of the oldest religion, universally 
acknowledged as such, and of all nations, are bound to live 
upon the square, level, and plinnh with each other, following 
the footsteps of their predecessors in cultivating the peace 
and harmony of the Lodge, without distinction of sect or 
political party." 

Upon the subject of the abuses of Masonry, it is important 
that we sliould seriously reflect. Let us convince theworld, 
by our conduct, whilst out of the Lodge, of the excellence 
of the principles inculcated iti it. Tiie institution is holy 
and enlightened ! Let not the world, therefore, withdraw 
its regard because some of our professors are unwortlu'. 
It behooves us, by the correctness of our conduct, to rebut 
an imputation so dishonorable. That some of us do not act 
conformably to the principles of our Order is not conclusive 
evidence that those principles are in themselves improper. 
As well might the enemies of Masonry deny us in this 
world the comforts of the religion of the meek and humble 
Jesus, and the hopes that religion encourages of life ever- 
lasting, because we know that some of its professors are 
found unworthy of the high trust committed to them. Let 
us, then, cherish a strict regard to truth and brotherly love. 
Let us regulate our conduct according to the golden rule 
of" doing unto all men as we would that all men should do 
unto us." Let us cultivate peace and harmony with our 
fellow-creatures ; gently reprove the foibles of each other ; 
extend to the distressed, either of mind or body, the hand 
of diffusive charity; and. above all, like the Great Architect 
of the Universe, let us judge a brother in mercy. 

When the best men, and the most distinguished patriots — 
when such men as Washington, Franklin, and Warren have 
condescended to labor \\\\\\ us in the same vineyard, ought 
we not to be doubly excited to honorable exertion in the 
path of rectitude? Respect for the constituted authorities 



32 BIOGRAPHY OF COLONEL CHARLES S. TODD. 

is a fundamental pillar of the Order. Let us, then, by a just 
sense of patriotism, convince our country that we are worthy 
of the glorious inheritance purchased by the blood of our 
fathers. Let us show that, by a temporary retirement from 
worldly commerce into the bosom of the Lodge and the 
" All-seeing Eye," we may. from the reception of virtuous 
precepts, return again with better capacities to discharge 
our duty as citizens. In becoming Masons we do not cease 
to be men, because whilst nature exists the passions and 
the frailties incident to that nature will also continue. No 
civil, no moral institution can totally eradicate the sin 
inseparably connected with our existence. To correct its 
tendency has been the principal design in all societies. 
So, in Masonry, we do not entirely cease to feel all those 
dangerous passions which not unfrequently set a troubled 
world in motion. To calm the impetuous dispositions of 
the heart, " to square our actions by the rules of rectitude, 
persevere in the rule of our duty, and restrain our passions 
within the compass of propriety," are among the benign 
principles of our Order; and thrice happy is he who, prac- 
tising them, can sav: This institution and these things have 
made me a better man, and a more useful citizen. 

Among the causes which have tended, at various periods 
of the world, to excite temporary prejudice against the 
nature and effects of Masonry, the character and deport- 
ment of its members whilst out of the Lodge may be 
deemed most serious. It is, as it ought to be, the touch- 
stone of our creed. Those ivithout can only appreciate the 
principles taught iLnihin by an attentive observance of our 
conduct as men and as citizens. Let us, then, my brethren, 
by a discreet, honorable, and virtuous career, study to evince 
our attachment to the landmarks of the Order, and thereby 
command the confidence of the world in their beneficial 
tendency and effect. We cannot presume to be exempt 
from those evils that arc necessarily attendant upon human- 
ity. Let us, lu)wcver, reclaim, as far as practicable, the 
frailties of our nature. Let us cultivate the social virtues — 



BIOGRAPHY OF COLONEL CHARLES S. TODD. 2i3 

zealously regard the qualities of prudence, temperance, and 
of a meek demeanor. And, finally, let us show to the world, 
that, in becoming Masons, we become better men. 

In regard to those who may hereafter solicit the benefits 
of our institution, let us be particularly careful to embrace 
none whose honorable principles and whose correct deport- 
ment do not guarantee an observance of the admirable 
tenets of Masonry. A disregard of this principle has, in 
every instance, procured for the craft temporary unpopular- 
ity. Let us, as far as possible, repair the breach, and in 
future let none enter who are not worthy of the high estate. 
Let us at all times trust in our Leader, the Grand Architect 
of the Univ^erse. Let us, by due preparation, be the better 
enabled to /-^i-i- through the tria/swe may have to encounter. 
Let us, by prudence and caution, avoid the dangers that sur- 
round us in the rugged path of life, that, when " removed 
from this terrestrial Lodge, we may be admitted, by the 
passzvord of grace , into 'Oi\Q Lodge celestial, to an everlasting 
refreshment within the vailT Finally, my brethen, by "faith 
in God, liope in immortality, and charity to all mankind," 
may we ascend, by the ladder o( honorable exertion, to that 
Lodge which is the residence of " the spirits of just men 
made perfect," and governed by the Grand Master of the 
Universe, whose Tyler is death, and whose portal the grave! 

In 1816, Colonel Todd was married to Letitia 
Shelby, the youngest daughter of Governor Shelby. 
She was one of the most beautiful and gifted women 
in the State. Her features were regular and clas- 
sical, and her complexion was of the most dazzling 
whiteness. No one could be in her presence with- 
out being impressed with her beauty and accomplish- 
ments. I have seen a portrait 01 her by Jouett, one 
of the finest artists in the country. It is indeed a 
splendid specimen of art, and is regarded as a per- 
5 



34 BIOGRAPHY OF COLONEL CHARLES S. TODD. 

feet likeness; but I am satisfied that no art could do 
justice to the beauty that took all hearts captive. 

Colonel Todd first saw her at Frankfort, Ky., 
the capital of the State, and was at once deeply im- 
pressed with her charms. She was surrounded by a 
gay and brilliant circle, but her eyes were fixed on 
him alone. It was with both a clear case of love at 
first sight. 

"At first sight they changed eyes." 

Colonel Todd was then an officer in the regular 
army, and was compelled to join his regiment. After 
standing the separation as long as he could, he ap- 
plied for a furlough. This being denied him, he 
addressed Miss Shelby in an open letter enclosed to 
her father. Governor Shelby saw proper to withhold 
the letter. It was, however, accidentally discovered 
by her, and, after reading it, she evinced such attach- 
ment for her lover that the most cordial consent was 
given to their union. 

Colonel Todd lived very happily with his wife 
until her death, which occurred the 2 2d of July, 
1S68. 



''S^m^ 




BIOGRAPHY OF COLONEL CHARLES S. TODD. 35 



CHAPTER V. 

Colonel Todd is appointed Secretary of State — His Election to the Legis- 
lature over Judge Marshall and Judge liibb — His Re-election over Gen- 
eral Hardin — Is appointed Minister to Bogota — His Discharge of his 
Mission approved by John Q. Adams — He returns to the United States, 
and Settles on a Farm in Shelby County, Kentucky — His Intelligence 
and Enterprise as a Farmer — His Services to Agriculture. 

TN the fall of 18 16, Colonel Todd was appointed 
Secretary of State by Governor Madison. On 
the death of Madison, Colonel Todd resigned his 
position, as it was expected that the incoming admin- 
istration would be under the control of a different 
political policy. 

In 1 81 7. Colonel Todd was elected to the legisla- 
ture of Kentucky, after a very exciting and hody 
contested canvass. There were two candidates op- 
posed to him, Judge Marshall and Judge Bibb. Both 
of these men had great popularity in the district ; 
but Colonel Todd came out triumphant In 18 18 he 
was again elected, and this time over General Hardin, 
one of the ablest men in the State. 

In 1820, Colonel Todd was appointed minister to 
Colombia, South America, for the purpose of com- 
pleting negotiations which had been suspended by 
the death of Commodore Perry, and to remain as a 
confidential agent with the pay of a charge d'affaires. 
He was permitted to return to the United States in 
1 82 1. He elicited from the administration, during 
this mission, the hiohest commendation. The follow- 
ing is a copy of a letter to Colonel Todd from John 



.^6 BIOGRAPHY OF COLONEL CHARLES S. TODD. 

Ouincy Adams, who was then Secretary of State. 
The original letter is in possession of L. J. Cist, the 
distinguished autographic collector of St. Louis : 

Department of State, Washington, 19th July, 1S21. 

Colonel Charles Todd, Frankfort, Ky. 

Sir: Your despatches and letters, with their enclosures, 
during your absence from the United States, and since 
your return until your letter of the 20th ultimo, have been 
duly received at the Department. 

I am directed by the President U. S. to express to you 
his approbation of your conduct during your agency, and 
his regret that the state of your health prevented you from 
proceeding to your ultimate destination ; and to add his 
wish that, as soon as your health shall have been restored, 
so that it may suit your convenience to resume your duties, 
you would again proceed to the post of your destination. 

Your compensation will recommence from the time of 
your leaving home to repair to that post. You will take 
such course for proceeding to the Southern continent, as 
you shall judge most advisable and most convenient to 
yourself No particular addition to the instructions hereto- 
fore given you is believed to be necessary. 
I am, with great respect, Sir, 

Your ver}' humble and obedient servant, 
(Signed) John Qulncv Adams. 

In 1S22 he was sent out, in a frigate, with the re- 
cognition of the independence of Colombia. 

The suhjoincd despatch, sent from Bogota the 4lh 
of Jul)-, 1S23, to the State Department at Washing- 
ton, will give the reader some idea of the ability and 
fidelity with which he discharged the duties assigned 
him at Bogota. 



BIOGRAPHY OF COLONEL CHARLES S. TODD. 37 

Bogota, 4tli July, 1823. 

Sir : I have the honor, by a safe private conveyance, of 
enclosing a duplicate of Nos. 50, 51, 52, 53, and 54; to- 
gether with their enclosures. You will receive herewith a 
copy, also, of the statement communicated on the i6th 
ultimo to General Santander, with the report made by the 
Judge of the Supreme Court of the Conference already 
referred to. I submit, at the same time, a copy of what I 
supposed to be the substance of that conversation, that you 
may be possessed of every circumstance connected with 
that unpleasant alternative. Among the documents deliv- 
ered to General Santander, was a translation of so much of 
the messages of the President of the United States in 181 1, 
18 17, 18 1 8, 1 8 19, and 1820, as referred to the South Amer- 
ican contest, and the views and acts of the Government 
growing out of its progress ; a translation of the con- 
fidential conversation with the President in September, 
1 82 1, the substance of which has been already communi- 
cated to you; and a translation of so much of the Instruc- 
tions to Commodore Perry as contains an account of the 
efforts of the Government by negotiation in favor of the 
South American Cause, and of the reasons recommending 
the propriety and advantages of the neutral policy of the 
United States. 

The admission made by the Vice-President of his enter- 
taining the same impression which other persons in author- 
ity had candidly acknowledged with respect to the United 
States completely confirmed the propriety of the course 
pursued in soliciting that conference ; and, though communi- 
cated informally, is entitled to great consideration, as afford- 
ing evidence of views that have prevailed to our injury among 
the highest authorities. There are some allusions in my 
statement, which, on a cursory view, might be regarded as 
digressions ; but they were introduced with the special 
object of replying to certain misrepresentations in the 
Report of the Secretary of Foreign Affairs, and of showing 
particularly that the Executive Decree requiring all con- 



38 BIOGRAPHY OF COLONEL CHARLES S. TODD. 

signments of foreign goods to be made to citizens of 
Colombia was not justified by the principle of reciprocity- 
adopted in the United States. 

You will have observed an obvious negligence on the 
part of the Executive in having failed when, from a re- 
gard to their own professions, to press the repeal of the 
five per cent. ; and the very reasons assigned by Congress 
contradict, by inference, the opinion so confidently urged 
in the accompanying letter of the Secretary of Foreign 
Affairs of the Government entertaining the most friendly 
feeling-s towards the United States. In this view of the 
subject, it may be considered highly impolitic in this Gov- 
ernment to regard the sense of gratitude toward the United 
States for the recognition, instead of the immutable prin- 
ciples of justice, as a reason for the repeal of a law which 
is indirectly acknowledged to have originated in the desire 
of cultivating sentiments neither of peace nor friendship 
toward the Government, whatever may have been their 
feelings toward our virtuous people of the United States. 

It gives me great pleasure to repeat the assurance of a 
friendly feeling toward us pervading the mass of the people, 
of the Congress, and a majority of the Executive ; and if 
they have ever entertained the prejudices, which still influ- 
ence the conduct of the Secretary of Foreign Affairs, they 
have forcfotten them so far as not to suffer them to interfere 
with their duty to both countries. Unfortunately, however, 
for the United States, the leading men of this country have 
formed their opinions upon certain assumed facts and prin- 
ciples not justified by the real attitude between the two coun- 
tries. They have undertaken to suppose that there was a 
perfect identity in the causes and consequences of the two 
struggles, and have proceeded on the unwarrantable infer- 
ence from this supposition that the United States, their elder 
brother on the same continent, were bound to unite their 
destinies with them ; ami thus not only involve their own 
l)eace and .safety, but encounter the general hostility of the 
Powers of Europe. In the indulgence of their unreason- 



BIOGRAPHY OF COLONEL CHARLES S. TODD. 39 

able expectations, they appear to have forgotten that the 
United States, as a sovereign and independent power, were 
the sole judges of their duty and of the occasions in wliich 
it might be considered i)roper, if ever, to "abandon " their 
own, to stand "on foreign ground." The justice and jjru- 
dcnce of their counsels in avoiding any measure which 
might involve them in the war, will necessarily impose on 
them the propriety of mature consideration before they 
form any other than commercial relations with this country. 
Indeed, the necessity of their deriving certain benefit against 
any possible designs by the European powers would alone 
justify any political connection with it. 

With respect to the propriety of having conferred with 
the Vice-President, by the aid of one of the Judges of the 
Supreme Court, rather than that of the Secretary of Foreign 
Afijiirs, I might content myself with the remark that, as it 
was an unofficial interview, I was not only not required to 
maintain it through the Secretary of Foreign Affairs, but, 
having received information from the Judge of some of the 
circumstances rendering it necessary, there seemed to be 
a peculiar fitness in making the explanation through that 
channel. But I had, notwithstanding, abundant evidence of 
the indelicacy and inexpediency of committing it to the 
agency of the Secretary of Foreign Affairs, — the depreciat- 
ing allusions in his letter of the loth of May ; the want of 
cordiality in his personal intercourse; his notorious un- 
friendliness towards the United States; the circumstances 
in my statement implicating his sincerity; a measure of the 
most extraordinary nature adopted by him Vvhilc in the 
United States; his general character and the breach of 
confidence in causing his letters to me to be translated by 
a foreigner, who is distinguished for the jealousy and ma- 
lignity with which he regards the United States, and the 
rights and interests of their citizens, although I had, with 
a view to avoid this circumstance, previously requested 
them to be translated by a Colombian, as there were not 
citizens of the United States in this capital. All these 



40 BIOGRAPHY OF COLONEL CHARLES S. TODD. 

circumstances precluded the hope of obtaining justice and 
conciliation through his agency, and imposed on me the 
imperious duty of avoiding any measure which might afford 
him the opportunity of further deceptions, or of widening 
the breach. 

I have the honor of enclosing herewith a copy of a note 
of the 2Sth ultimo from Mr. C. J. Bunkle, together with his 
correspondence with the Secretary of the Treasury, and a 
copy of two letters of the 30th ultimo from the Secretary of 
Foreign Affairs, with their enclosures, by which }'ou will be 
advised officially of the repeal of the discrimination in the 
Tariff to our prejudice, — and of a decree, by the Executive, 
of the 1 8th September, 1821, respecting the seizure of a 
portion of the cargo of the brig " America." On the sup- 
position that the parties may not have transmitted to the 
Department a copy of the proceedings in this case, I 
have the honor of enclosing a copy of the several decrees 
adopted b\- the authorities of Colombia, and known to 
the interested prior to their application to the Govern- 
ment of the United States; together with that lately com- 
municated, and purporting to have been authorized on the 
1 8th September last. I cannot pretend, in the short space 
of a letter, to unfold all the circumstances connected with 
this transaction, and therefore content myself with men- 
tioning the principal features. The cargo of the Brig 
"America" consisted of sundry military supplies, to be 
delivered, under contract, with this Government, and a 
large amount of merchandise, chiefly East India. In con- 
sequence of the heav\- duties on the importation, amounting 
from various causes to fifty per cent, upon an extravagant 
valuation, though at Augostua the duties of imiiortation 
did not exceed, at the same time, fifteen or twent\- per cent., 
the supercargo determineil to enter the goods for re- 
exportation to the United States ; but he was not permitted 
to carry this resolution into effect, and the goods were re- 
quired to be landed without delay. The public store-houses 
not being sufficientl\' spacious, they were disembarked under 



BIOGRAPHY OF COLONEL CHARLES S. TODD. 4 1 

a special and written permission, and in the usual mode in 
open day, and deposited in the house of a private individual 
near to the custom-house. During the landing of the 
goods, the written permission, according to custom, was 
delivered to the officer who has the direction of that pro- 
ceeding; but upon the trial, which was instituted on the 
ground of an attempt clandestinely to introduce the twenty- 
two cases of goods, contrary to law, this necessary docu- 
ment could not be produced. It was the duty and in the 
power of those who condemned, or procured the con- 
demnation, of the goods, to have furnished the paper, and 
the result authorizes the irresistible conclusion that it was 
purposely withheld or destroyed. The seizure was made 
by the Government, and a condemnation had by General 
Montilla, with the advice of the assessor or judge, D. Gual, 
at present Secretary of Foreign Affairs, and according to 
the laws supposed at that time to be in force, a considerable 
portion of the proceeds of said seizure was divided between 
those officers. The supercargo was prevented from prose- 
cuting an appeal to the superior board of the Treasury 
in this capital, by his passport being refused, as consequence 
of certain process issued against him by the collector for 
defamation, in stating the goods had been illegally con- 
demned. As soon, however, as the sentence below had 
been confirmed in this capital, though in the absence and 
without an opportunity of defence by the supercargo, the 
proceedings for defamation were dismissed and the passport 
granted. But upon his arrival at Mompox, where he had 
engaged all the boats, his further progress was again ar- 
rested, for six weeks, by the impressment, under the order 
of General Montilla, of those boats for the transportation 
of a detachment of troops to quell an imaginary revolt at 
Ocana. The supercargo, at length, however, arrived in this 
capital, though after the expiration of six months, within 
which a rehearing could usually be had. Fortunateh- he 
succeeded, in consequence of the interference of the Attor- 
ney-General appointed by the Government, in procuring a 
6 



42 13IOGRAPHY OF COLONEL CHARLES S. TODD. 

rehearing and reversal of the decision at Santa Martha. It 
may be pertinent here to remark that General Montilla, 
entertaining doubts of the legality of the proposed con- 
demnation, required the written opinion of D. Castillo, 
the present Secretary of the Treasury, to showing that the 
Assessor, D. Gual, would be responsible for any error of 
opinion in the case, so that he is considered eventually 
liable for the principal, and whatever damages this Govern- 
ment may be compelled to pay for the irregular seizure and 
detention. The enclosed copy of the letter from Mr. C. J. 
Bunkle to his employers will show the measures he adopted 
to procure indemnification ; and that, after reference to all 
the Departments of the Government, as may be seen in the 
decrees, he finally requested the Executive to inform him, 
to what authority to make effectual application. 

I have the most satisfactory assurances that the Depart- 
ment of the Treasury, if not of the members of the Govern- 
ment, were advised that Mr. Bunkle had left an agent in 
this capital with authority to receive the amount of the 
claim ; and, on the 20th of March last, D. Gual was in- 
formed that I had received instructions from my Govern- 
ment to submit a claim in this case. A copy of all the 
proceedings was accordingly enclosed with my despatch ot 
5th April. The case, however, was not noticed by this 
Government, until his letter of the 4th June, in whicli, so 
far from intimating the existence of a subsequent decree on 
the 18th September by the Executive who had previously 
disavowed any authority to interfere in the sentence, the 
Secretary offered certain transferable debentures in pay- 
ment as soon as the amount of the claim should be pre- 
cisely ascertained. He was informed, in my letter of the 
16th June, of the exact amount to which the claim would 
be reduced; ami, although Mr. Bunkle has been in this 
capital since the nth of May. this Government, with a 
knowledge of these circumstances, ventures on the indelicate 
and unwarrantable proceeding of endeavoring " to transfer 
the negotiations," by a communication on the 23d ot June, 
through the Secretary of the Treasury, of a silent decree, 



BIOGRAPHY OF COLONEL CHARLES S. TODD. 43 

to an individual who liad irrevocably ceded all agency in 
the business — after his refusal, very properly, to enter into 
any discussion upon the subject. Received on the 1st July 
the letter and accompanying documents from the Secretary 
of Foreign Affairs. 

It is not necessary, in this place, to animadvert on the ne- 
farious complexion of the whole transaction, so derogatory 
to the good faith and integrity of the Government, or on the 
suspicious circumstances attending the development of the 
extraordinary decree of the i8th September, in the main- 
tenance of which the Secretary of Foreign Affairs is indi- 
vidually so deepK- interested. The merits of the controversy 
are forgotten in the unjustifiable act of attempting to with- 
draw the negotiations from the hands in which it had been 
legitimately vested by the Government of the United States 
and the parties concerned. At a more convenient time, I 
shall do myself the honor of developing all the circum- 
stances connected with this case, and suggest, for the pres- 
ent, that the facts already noticed and the gross intimation 
conveyed in the concluding paragraph in the Secretary's 
letter of the 30th of June, have imposed on me the painful 
necessity of considering all further official intercourse, on 
my part, with this Government as at an end ; and that, 
whilst the present Secretary continues to be the organ of 
this Government to foreign nations, no intercourse will be 
renewed, until the arrival of Mr. Anderson, or of further 
powers to myself Indeed, the anxious solicitude I feel to 
avoid any act which might embarrass the attitude of Mr. 
Anderson, or the future views of the United States in rela- 
tion to this country, alone prevents me demanding my 
passports immediately. It is proper, also, to apprise you 
that it is possible I may yet adopt this course, and that I 
may hesitate, even on the receipt of additional instructions, 
to renew the intercourse through U. Gual. 
I have the honor to be 

Your obedient servant, 

C. S. Todd. 

Hon. I. O. Ad.ams. 



44 lilOGRAniY OF COLONEL CHARLES S. TODD. 

At the close of the mission to Colombia, in 1824, 
Colonel Todd returned to the United States, and 
established himself upon a tract of land in Shelby 
County, ori^^nnally located by Governor Shelby. It 
is no exaggeration to say that Colonel Todd made 
his farm the most valuable in the State. He intro- 
duced Blue erass into the woods, and introduced the 
first blooded catde. When he took charge of this 
tract of land, it could not have been sold for more 
than five dollars per acre; but his improved system 
of cultivation soon made it worth from fifty to sixty 
dollars per acre. 

Indeed, his knowledge of farming became so widely 
known that he was chosen President of the State 
Agricultural Society. The pages of many of our 
most prominent agricultural journals and magazines 
are enriched with able and interesting ardcles from 
his pen. In January, 1839, he delivered an address 
before the State Agricultural Society, which was very 
generally read and admired. Some years ago it was 
republished in a Louisville paper, and attracted al- 
most as much attention as if it had been written at a 
more recent period. I have been unable to get a 
copy of it, or I should certainly have included it in 
this memoir. 



^:d:^ 



■:^ii 



BIOGRAPHY OF COLONEL CHARLES S. TODD. 45 



CHAPTER VI. 

The Harrison Campaign — Colonel Todd one of its Master - Spirits — He 
Removes to Cincinnati, and takes Charge of the Cincinnati Republican — 
He Speaks as well as Writes — He, in Conjunction with Benjamin Drake, 
Prepares a Life of General Harrison — Extracts from this Work — Inci- 
dents of the Campaign. 

ONE of the most interesting events in the life 
of Colonel Todd is the part that he enacted in 
the election of General Harrison to the Presidency. 
As soon as Harrison was nominated, Colonel Todd 
removed to Cincinnati, Ohio, and took charge of the 
Cincinnati Republican, then one of the most influen- 
tial Whig papers in the State. Besides attending to 
his arduous editorial duties, he addressed the people 
in nearly all the large cities and towns in the West. 
He was also employed, in conjimction with Benjamin 
Drake, an able and effective writer, by the Whig 
Central Committees of Ohio and Kentucky, to pre- 
pare a Life of General Harrison. The work was soon 
completed. It consisted of a small volume of one 
hundred and seventy pages. It was published by 
G. P. James, of Cincinnati. Many thousand copies 
were sold. It was used as a campaign document, 
and as a sort of text-book by the leading politicians 
and journalists of the country. It is divided into 
thirteen chapters, written alternately by Colonel Todd 
and Mr. Drake. So nearly did the st)les of these 
two writers resemble one another, that it was a sub- 
ject of curious inquiry which parts of the book were 
written by Colonel Todd and which by Mr. Drake. 



46 BICGRArHY OF COLONEL CHARLES S. TODD. 

At my solicitation, Colonel Todd pointed out the 
chapters from his pen. 

The Introduction to the book is the joint work of 
both. The first chapter, (an extract of which I sub- 
join, giving an account of the education and early 
life of General Harrison, his entrance into the army, 
and of the battle of ^Nlaumee, etc.,) Colonel Todd 
wrote. It will enable the reader to form a very cor- 
rect idea of the character of the work. 

" \Vm, Henry Harrlson was educated at Hamp- 
den Sydney College, and then repaired to Philadel- 
phia to pursue the study of medicine under the 
instruction of the distinguished Dr. Benjamin Rush, 
and under the guardianship of Robert Morris, the 
great financier of the Revolution, both of whom were 
signers of the Declaration of Independence. The 
youth, who had laid the foundations at college for a 
taste in the literature and histor)- of the ancient clas- 
sics, was thus afforded an opportunity of drinking 
deep at these fountains of the genius and spirit ot the 
Revolution. He had derived from his patriotic father 
the lessons of republican liberty, and in the school of 
Rush, o{ Morris, and of JWis/iiiiofon, he imbibed a love 
of countr\', which led hini to encounter difficulty and 
danger in her defence. About this period the disasters 
of the Northwestern army, imder the accomplished 
Harmar, excited a deep sympath\' in the public mind, 
and the youthful Harrison, partaking largely of the 
generous impulses of the da\', resolved to abandon 
the studies in which he was engaged, and to partici- 
pate in the perils as well as the sacrifices which were 
incident to this o-reat border warfare. His LTuardian 



BIOGRAPHY OF COLONEL CHARLES S. TODD. 47 

and his friends opposed his wish to enter upon this 
hazardous duty; but he appHed in person to General 
Knox, Secretar)- of War, and to the immortal Wash- 
ington, who o;ranted him a commission of ensio^n in 
the first regiment of the United States Artillery ; and 
in November, 1791, when but nineteen years of age, 
he marched on foot to Pittsburg, and, by descending 
the Ohio, joined his regiment, then stationed at Fort 
Washington. Shortly before the disastrous defeat 
of the veteran St. Clair, ensign Harrison formed the 
resolution to devote his energies to the military ser- 
vice of his country, at a period when his judgment 
and feelings m.ust have been guided by a high sense 
of patriotism, and a disinterested love of fame. The 
theatre of the war was in the remote wilderness, and 
the character of the enemy such that laurels were to 
be won only by great suffering and exposure in situ- 
ations destitute of the comforts or even the necessa- 
ries of civilized life. A o'reat national disaster had 
occurred in 1790, under the gallant Harmar, who was 
seconded by the heroic conduct of Colonel Hardin, 
himself a sacrifice to the treachery of the Indian char- 
acter. Congress authorized, at its next session, the 
raising of two thousand men, under the denomination 
of levies ; and General St. Clair, governor of the 
Northwestern territories, was appointed commander- 
in-chief. On the 4th of November, 1791, he was met 
and likewise defeated, with irreat loss, bv a formida- 
ble body of Indians, on the waters of the Big Miami 
River. This defeat of St. Clair, thoucrh Conorress 
subsequently acquitted him of all blame, produced a 
deep impression on the public mind, and, connected 
with the previous disasters of the war, rendered the 



48 BIOGRAPHY OF COLONEL CHARLES S. TODD. 

service unpopular, drained the public treasur}', and 
brought the country into a crisis which developed 
the enercjies of Washinc^ton's trreat intellect. The 
war had assumed a national importance, inducing the 
President to select for the chief of the army a soldier 
of prudence, of experience, and of energy. The 
choice was balanced for a time between Clarke and 
Wayne, both distini/uished leaders in the war of the 
Revolution, though on a different theatre : the former 
acting under the immediate eye of the father of his 
country, earning for himself the reputation of intre- 
pidity, with fertility of expedient ; the latter having 
won the distinctive title of the Hannibal of the M'est. 
The command was eventually assigned to Wayne, 
who acquired a new wreath of glory for himself, and 
added to the proofs of the sagacity of Washington. 
Ensi^rn Harrison joined his regiment at Fort Wash- 
ington, just in time to witness the return of the frag- 
ments of that gallant band, which, marching out in 
the proud anticipation of victory, was destined to a 
sad reverse under the veteran St. Clair. Under these 
discouraging circumstances, and with the near ap- 
proach of winter, Knsign Harrison commenced his 
jjublic service in the command of an escort having 
charge of a train of pack-horses destined for Fort 
Hamilton. It was a dut\' invohing peril and kitigue 
b)' night and by day, and recjuiring the exercise ot 
sagacity and self-denial. His performance ot the 
arduous task elicited the commendations of General 
St. Ckiir, and exhibiteil an interesting instance of a 
character in which the artlor of youth was combined 
with the maturit\- of age. In 1792 he was promoted 
to tile rank of lieutenant, and in 1 793 joined the legion 



BIOGKAnrV OF COLONEL CHARLES S. TODD. 49 

under General Wayne, and was not long afterwards 
selected by him as one of his aids-de-camp, — illus- 
trating, in an eminent degree, the confidence of that 
tried soldier, since Lieutenant 1 larrison was only 
twenty-one years of age. He continued to act as aid 
to General Wayne during the whole of the ensuing 
campaign, receiving, as he merited, repeated instances 
of high encomium from his commander. The first 
occurred upon the occasion of a detachment having 
been sent on the 23d of December, 1793, to take 
possession of the field of battle of the 4th of No- 
v^ember, 1791, and to fortify the position. To the new 
post was given the name of Fort Recovery. The 
folio winyf creneral order was issued on the return of 
the troops from that interesting duty : ' The Com- 
mander-in-Chief returns his most grateful thanks to 
Major Henry Burbeck, and to every officer, non- 
commissioned ofiicer, and private, belonging to the 
detachment under his command, for their soldierly and 
exemplary good conduct during their late arduous 
tour of duty, and the cheerfulness witli which they 
surmounted every difficulty, at this inclement season, 
in repossessing General St. Clair's field of battle, and 
erecting thereon Fort Recovery, a work impregnable 
by savage force ; as also for piously and carefully 
collecting and interring the bones, and pa)ing the 
last respect and military honors to the remains of 
the heroes who fell on the 4th of November, i 791, by 
three times three discharges from the same artillc7'y 
that was lost on that fatal day, but now recovered by 
this detachment of the legion. The Commander-in- 
Chief also requests Major Mills, Captains I)e Butts 
and Butler, Lieutenant Harrison, and Ur. Scott, to 
7 



50 BIOGRAPHV OF COLONEL CHARLES S. TODD. 

accept his best thanks for their voluntary aid and 
services on this occasion.' 

" The other instance of commendation of the gal- 
lantry of Lieut. Harrison is to be found in the report 
made by General Wayne to the War Department, 
in relation to the celebrated batde of the Maumee, 
which we shall presendy introduce to the notice of 
the reader. The youth, the early habits of study, 
and the delicate frame of Mr. Harrison, not less than 
the perils and privations incident to the border war- 
fare, would have intimidated a spirit less heroic than 
his, in entering upon the arduous service in the 
Northwest. As illustrative of the aspect of affairs, 
and of his first appearance in the army, an old sol- 
dier of St. Clair, who was present, has remarked : ' I 
would as soon have thought of putdng my wite in 
the service as this boy; but 1 have been out with 
him, and I find those smooth cheeks are on a wise 
head, and that slight frame is almost as tough as my 
own weather-beaten carcass.' General Charles Scott, 
a veteran of the Revolution, who enjoyed the special 
confidence of Washinoton, arrived in fulv from Ken- 
tuckywith his command of mounted volunteers ; and, 
on the 8th of August, General Wayne took up a 
position at Oand Glaize, sevent\- miles in advance 
of Greenville. A strong work was erected at the 
junction of the Auglaize and Maumee rivers, and 
General Wayne again opened a communication with 
the Indians before striking the final blow. ' 1 have 
thought proi)er,' he said. ' to offer the enemy a last 
overture of peace; and. as they have everything that is 
dear and interesting at stake, I have reason to expect 
they will listen to the jiroposition mentioned in the 



BIOGRAPHY OF COLONEL CHARLES S. TODD. 5 1 

enclosed copy of an address dispatched yesterday by 
a special flag, under circumstances that will insure 
his safe return, and which may eventually spare the 
effusion of much human blood. But, should war be 
their choice, that blood be upon their own heads. 
America shall no longer be insulted with impunity. 
To an all-powerful and just God, I therefore com- 
mit myself and gallant army.' The enemy rejected 
the offer of peace ; and the celebrated Little Turtle, 
who advised its adoption in a council on the night 
before the battle, spoke as follows : ' We have beaten 
the enemy twice under separate commanders. We 
cannot expect the same good fortune to attend us 
always. The Americans are now led by a chief who 
never sleeps; the night and the day are alike to him. 
And during all the time he has been marching upon 
our villages, notwithstanding the watchfulness of our 
young men, we have never been able to surprise him. 
Think well of it. There is something whispers me, 
it would be prudent to listen to his offers of peace.' 
We refer the reader to the official report of General 
Wayne, of the 27th of August, i 794, for a perspicuous 
account of the celebrated battle oi JMauinee, and deem 
it sufficient for our present purpose to give an extract 
relating to the conduct of his aid-de-camp, Lieutenant 
Harrison : ' The bravery and conduct of every officer 
belonging to the army, from the generals down to 
the ensigns, merit ni)' highest approbation. There 
were, however, some whose rank and situation placed 
their conduct in a very conspicuous point of view, 
and which I observed with pleasure and with the 
most lively oratitude : amonof whom I beLf leave to 
mention Brigadier- General Wilkinson and Colonel 



0- 



2 BIOGRAPHY OF COLONEL CHARLES S. TODD. 



Hamtramck, the commandants of the right and left 
win<Ts of the let^ion, whose brave example inspired 
the troops; and to these I must add the names of my 
faithful and gallant aids-de-camp, Captains De Butts 
and 1\ Lewis, and Lieutenant Harrison, who, with the 
Adjutant-general, Major Mills, 7'cndered the most es- 
sential service by commimi eating my orders in every 
direction, and by their conduct and bravery exciting 
the troops to press for victory! The praise of which 
lieutenant, now General Harrison, was the subject in 
the despatch from the illustrious Wayne, was ot a 
character to soothe him for the trials and the perils he 
had encountered, and to stimulate him to increased 
diligence in the discharge of the high and responsible 
duties confided to him when placed afterwards in the 
command of Fort Washington. This commenda- 
tion received additional weight from the remarks 
made in the presence of a venerable gendeman. now 
living, by General Wilkinson and Colonel Shaum- 
buHT, who said that 'Harrison was in the foremost 
front of the hottest battle ; his person was exposed 
from the commencement to the close of the action. 
Wherever duty called, lie hastened, regardless of 
danger ; and by his efforts and example contributed 
as much to secure the fortune of the day as any 
other officer subordinate to the Commander-in-Chief 
The victory at Maumce was achieved by the discipline 
of Wayne's arm\ , antl the introduction by that saga- 
cious leader of a m-w feature in military tactics as 
applied to Indian warfare, which was the result ol a 
plan digested l'\ Washington. Knox, and Wayne. 
The Northwestern savage chooses his own lime and 
his own position, and he retreats from it at his own 



BIOGRAniY OF COLONEL CHARLES S. TODD. 53 

pleasure. To be overcome, he must be outllanked 
or kept on the win^^, as he was by Wayne, by a con- 
stant charge of the bayonet. To provide against the 
contingency of the enemy assailing his Hanks, Wayne 
had adopted the plan of forming his troops at open 
order, so as to extend his Hanks and move with 
celerity in the woods. These principles were acted 
upon in tlic subsequent war conducted by General 
Harrison, and may be now regarded as the approved 
mode of fighting the Northwestern Indians. A 
permanent peace with the Indians was the fruit of 
this great victory. The negotiations commenced in 
January and terminated in August, 1795. Soon after 
the close of this campaign, Captain Harrison was 
intrusted by Wayne with the command of Fort 
W^ashington, where he was directed to advise the 
general of all movements connected with the inva- 
sion of Louisiana, then projected, and to prevent the 
forwarding of any military stores by the French agents. 
As a further evidence of the confidence of Wayne, 
he specially entrusted Captain Harrison with his 
commands, and intentions as to the supply of the 
troops intended to occupy the posts theretofore held 
by the British on the Northern frontier. While in 
the command of Fort Washington (now Cincinnati), 
Captain Harrison married the daughter of John Cleves 
Symmes, the founder of the Miami settlements. An 
anecdote is given in relation to the marriage, illus- 
trative of the independent character of Captain 
Harrison. On the proposal to Mr. Symmes for his 
consent, Harrison was asked what were his resources 
for maintaining a wife ? Placing his hand upon his 
sword, he replied, ' This, sir, is my support ! ' The 



54 EIOGRAPIIV OF COLONEL CHARLES S, TODD. 

chivalry and undaunted confidence of the young sol- 
dier at once obtained the approbation of Mr. Symmes. 
Captain Harrison continued in the command of Fort 
Washington until 1797, when, upon the death of 
General Wayne, he resigned his commission in the 
army." 

The succeeding chapters give a very thorough 
account of his being appointed Secretary of the 
Northwestern Territory, and afterward a delegate to 
Congress ; and of his oreat efforts in securincr the 
passage of a law putdng an end to the system of 
selling the public lands in large tracts to speculators, 
contrary to the interest of the poor man. The law 
met with a great deal of opposition, both in the 
Senate and in the House of Representatives. Har- 
rison had such a perfect knowledge of the evils of 
the old law, and the justice of the proposed one, that 
he finally succeeded in securing its passage. We 
are informed in this Life of Harrison, that, in the 
subsequent legislation of Congress regulating the 
sales of the public lands, all the features of Har- 
rison's original report and bill upon the subject were 
incorporated. Thr fourth chaj)tcr of this little work 
contains an account of an interview between Har- 
rison and Tecumseh, the celebrated Indian chiei, and 
also a vcr\- interesting account df the battle oi Tip- 
pecanoe. This chapter is also from the pen oi Colonel 
Todd. It is so good that we cannot resist repro- 
ducing it here : 

"Between the years 1806 and 181 1, Governor 
Harrison's duties, as superintendent of Indian aflairs. 



BIOGRAPHY OF COLONEL CHARLES S. TODD. 55 

were delicate and responsible. During- this period, 
the British agents were powerfully aided in their 
efforts to excite the Indians to hostility against the 
United States by two remarkable individuals, Te- 
cumseh and his brother Olliwachica, better known as 
the Prophet. The genius of the one and the prophet- 
ical character of the other drew around them a band 
of desperate followers, who finally established them- 
selves at Tippecanoe. The treaty made at Fort 
Wayne, in 1S09, by Governor Harrison, gave offence 
to Tecumseh, it being in violation of the great prin- 
ciple of his confederacy, that the Indian lands were 
the common property of all the tribes, and could not 
be sold without the consent of all. In August, 1810, 
he invited Tecumseh to visit Vincennes, to have the 
difficulties adjusted. The chief, attended by four 
hundred warriors, armed with war-clubs and toma- 
hawks, presented themselves at the appointed time. 
It was at this coimcil that Tecumseh declared the 
Governor's statements false, and sprung to his arms ; 
his example being followed by forty of his warriors, 
who were present at tlie conference. The firmness 
of the Governor, and the final termination of this ex- 
traordinary interview, must be familiar to the reader. 
It was at the close of this council, when, upon Gov- 
ernor Harrison's tellin^- him that he would refer the 
question between them to the President, that Te- 
cumseh replied, ' Well, as the great chief is to deter- 
mine the matter, I hope the Great Spirit will put 
sense enough into his head to induce him to direct 
you to give up this land. It is true, he is so far off, 
he will not be injured by the war; he may sit still in 
his town, and drink his wine, while you and I will 



56 BIOGRAPHY OF COLONEL CHARLES S. TODD. 

have to fig;ht It out.' The Governor, in conclusion, 
told Tecumseh that he had one proposal to make, 
and that was, in the event of a war, to put a stop to 
that cruel and disgraceful mode of warfare which the 
Indians were accustomed to wage against women and 
children, and upon their prisoners. To this proposi- 
tion, resulting from Governor Harrison's benevolent 
forecast, he cheerfully assented, anel it is due to the 
memory of Tecumseh to add that he faithfully kept 
his promise. Tecumseh left X'incennes. boldly avow- 
ing his determination to persevere in his eftbrts to 
combine the tribes, on the principle already alluded 
to ; and, in the next year, he visited the Southern 
Indians for this purpose, leaving the Prophet in 
charge of the party at 1 ippecanoe, but with instruc- 
tions to avoid an open rupture with the United States 
duriuLf his absence. In the summer of 1811, the 
danger to the frontier became so imminent that the 
President placed some troops under the command 
of Governor Harrison, to be used offensively, how- 
ever, in such a contingency only as in his judgment 
he might deem intHspensably necessary. Governor 
Harrison consulted with Governors Howard and 
lulwards, of Missouri and Illinois, who advised the 
breaking up of the Prophet's town, or, at all events, 
the prevention of the further assemblage of Indians 
at that point. The Governor's lorce consisted of 
regulars and militia, a small part of the latter being 
from Kentucky, wiih whom came Daviess, Croghan. 
( )"l-\il!on. Shi[)p, Meade, lulwards, and Saunders, — 
gallant younij volunteers, who not onl\- distinsjuished 
themselves in the action whicii ensued, but performed 
a brilliant part in the subsequent war with Great 



BIOGRArilV OF COLONEL CHARLES S. TODD. 57 

T^ritain. The Governor was also joined Ijy Owen 
and Wells, both celebrated m the early history of 
Kentucky. Passing over the intermediate details, the 
Governor, on the evening- of the 6th of November, 
wqth a force of nine hundred men, was within a mile 
and a half of the Prophet's town, where he halted the 
army, to make a final effort to prevent the necessity 
of an attack. This effort proved unavailing. Thtt 
army then marched toward the village. This led to 
a conference with the Indians, who announced their 
pacific intentions, and agreed that the terms of peace 
should be settled on the following day. A halt was 
ordered, and Majors Waller Taylor and Marston 
Clark, and Colonel W'illiam Piatt, were directed to 
examine and select a suitable spot for an encamp- 
ment. The two former reported that they had found 
a place, combining all that could be desired, on the 
bank of a small stream, nearly surrounded by an 
open prairie, on the north of the town. On this spot, 
late in the evening of the 6th, the army was encamped. 
The details of the severe and brilliant action which 
took place on the following morning are familiar to 
the reading [)ublic. We have not space to give 
them. The Indians made a fierce and gallant attack, 
but were as gallantly met, and finally compelled to 
retreat. The officers and soldiers acted with ereat 
bravery, and were specialh' noticed in the official let- 
ter of the Commander-in-Chief The number of men 
killed, including those wdio died of their wounds, was 
upwards of fifty; the wounded were more than double 
that number. The loss of the Indians, in killed, was 
about the same with that of the whites. They left 
thirty-eight dead on the field of batde. Some were 



58 BIOGRArHY OF COLONEL CHARLES S. TODD. 

buried in the town, and others, it is supposed, died of 
their wounds subsequently. The force of Governor 
Harrison, on the day of action, amounted to about 
nine hundred. The traders estimated the Indian force 
at from eight hundred to one thousand men. Captain 
Wells, the Indian a^rent, assured a Lrentleman from 
Ohio, now livinir, that several of the Indians ens-ra^ed 
in the battle, who visited Fort Wayne after the ac- 
tion, stated their number to have been near twelve 
hundred, and that the proportion of wounded was 
unusually great. It is an act of justice to the Com- 
mander- in-Cliief to add, that a ball passed through 
his cravat, bruising his neck, and another struck his 
saddle, and then hit his thigh. The horse on which 
he rode was severely wounded in the head. Xo 
battle ever fou"-ht in the United States has been more 
extensively examined or severely criticised than the 
battle of Tippecanoe. Soon after its occurrence, the 
enemies of Governor Harrison severely censured his 
conduct, and charged upon him that he permitted the 
Indians to select his camping-ground, and was taken 
by surprise on the morning of the attack. These 
charo-es, although oenerallv discredited, and made 
by irresponsible persons, called out the testimony of 
the officers and men enoa<'ed in the action, and thus 
placed all the facts before the public. In regard to 
the first of these charges. General Waller Taylor, of 
Indiana, under date of 15th of July. 1823, sa)s : 'The 
Indians tlid not dictate to the Governor the i)osition 
to encamp the arni\ the night before the battle of 
Tippecanoe. After the army reached the Indian town, 
in the afternoon, perhaps about sunset, the Governor 
ordered Major Clark and myself to proceed to the 



BIOGRAPHY OF COLONEL CHARLES S. TODD, 59 

left, and endeavor to find a suitable place for en- 
campment ; we did so, and discovered the place upon 
which the battle was fought the next morning ; upon 
our return to the army, we reported to the Governor 
our opinion about the place, which we stated to be 
favorable for an encampment' This statement is 
corroborated by Colonel Wm, Piatt, late of Cincin- 
nati, who was also in the action. Major Charles 
Larrabee, a brave officer, who was also present, says, 
under date of 13th October, 1823: 'Three officers, 
well able to judge, went out in search of a place, and 
they reported the one taken up. The situation was 
such that, if the army had been called upon to make 
choice of a place to fight the Indians, I venture to 
say, nine-tenths would have made that their selec- 
tion.' In the year following. General Hopkins, of 
Kentucky, a Revolutionary officer, while on an expe- 
dition against the Peoria towns in Indiana, visited 
the battle-ground of Tippecanoe, and expressed the 
opinion that the spot on which General Harrison 
encamped was the best in the neighborhood of the 
Prophet's town. In this opinion the officers of this 
expedition concurred ; and such, we are authorized 
to say, has been the fact with many military men 
who have since visited the scene of action. In reply 
to the second charge, Joel Cook, Josiah Snelling, 
R. C. Barton, O. G. Burton, Nathaniel F. Adams, 
Charles Fuller, A. Hawkins, George Gooding, H. 
Burchstead, Josiah D. Foster, and Hosea Bloodgood, 
all of them officers of the Fourth Regiment, United 
States Infantry, and in the battle of Tippecanoe, say, 
under their own proper hands: 'We deem it our duty 
to state, as incontestable facts, that the Commander- 



6o BIOGRAPHY OF COLONEL CHARLES S. TODD. 

in-Chief throuf^hout the campaign, and in the hour of 
battle, proved himself the soldier and the general ; that 
on the night of the action, by his order, we slept on our 
arms, and rose on our posts ; that, notwithstanding the 
darkness of the nio-ht, and the most consummate sav- 
age cunning of the enemy in eluding our sentries, and 
rapidity in rushing through the guards, we were not 
found unprepared ; that few of the men were able to 
enter our camp, and those few doomed never to return; 
that, in pursuance of his orders, which were adapted 
to every emergency, the enemy were defeated with a 
slaughter almost unparalleled among savages. Indeed, 
one sentiment of confidence, respect, and affection 
toward the Commander-in-Chief, pervaded the whole 
Irne of the army, any attempt to destroy which we 
shall consider as an insult to our understandings, and 
an injury to our feelings.' Major Larrabee, under 
date of Fort Knox, January 8th, 1812, says: 'At the 
commencement of the action, my company were at 
rest in their tents, with their clothes and accoutre- 
ments on, their guns lying by their sides, loaded, and 
bayonets fixed, and were by my order paraded in line 
of batde, ready to meet the enemy within forty sec- 
onds from the commencement of the action, all of 
which was performed one or two minutes before a 
man of the company was wounded.' The officers 
and non-commissioned officers and prixates ot the 
militia corps (Hargrave's excepted) of Knox County, 
in Indiana, who served in this cami)aign, luld a meet- 
ing in X'incennes, 7th December, i vS 1 i . and passed 
the following resolutions, unanimously: 'That it is a 
notorious fact, known to the whole army, that all the 
changes of position made by the troops during the 



BIOGRAniV OF COLONEL CHARLES S. TODD. 6 1 

action of the 7th ultimo, and by which the victory 
was secured, were made by the direction of the Com- 
mander-in-Chief, and generally executed under his 
immediate superintendence.' ' That it was owing- to 
the skill and valor of the Commander-in-Chief, that 
the victory of Tippecanoe was obtained.' 'That we 
have the most perfect confidence in the Commander- 
in-Chief, and shall always feel a cheerfulness in serving 
under him, whenever the exigency of the country may 
require it.' General Thomas Scott, of Indiana, under 
date of Mncennes, July 25, 1823, says: T have 
thought, and still think, that few generals would have 
faced danger at so many points as General Harrison 
did in the action of Tippecanoe. Wherever the ac- 
tion was warmest, was General Harrison to be found, 
and heard encouraging and cheering the officers and 
soldiers.' Mr. Adam Walker, of Keene, New Hamp- 
shire, a printer by profession, who was in the action, 
says, in his published journal : 'General Harrison 
received a shot throutrh the rim of his hat. In the 
heat of the action his voice was frequently heard and 
easily distinguished, giving his orders in the same 
calm, cool, and collected manner, with which we had 
been used to receive them on drill or parade. The 
confidence of the troops in the General was unlim- 
ited,' General John O'P^allon, now residing in St.Louis, 
a nephew of General George Rogers Clark, and a 
gallant officer of the late war, having distinguished 
himself at the siege of Fort Meigs and the batde of 
the Thames, in a late speech, at a public meeting in 
that city, in speaking of General Harrison, says: 'At 
the age of nineteen, I first became acquainted with 
the distinguished patriot, in whose behalf we have 



62 BIOGRAPHY OF COLONEL CHARLES S. TODD. 

assembled, and havlnij been by his side through 
nearly die whole of the late war, I can bear testimony 
to his cool, undaunted, and collected courage, as well 
as to his skill, as an able, efficient, and active officer. 
After the battle of Tippecanoe, which has thrown so 
much glory over our coimtry's arms, // zuas unii'crsally 
admittcdy that General Harrison loas the only officer 
that could have saved the army from defeat and mas- 
sacre! In dismissing this part of our subject, it is proper 
to say that, at the commencement of the attack, the 
Commander-in-Chief had risen, and was seated by the 
fire in conversation with Wells, Ta)lor, Owen, and 
Hurst, the three latter his aids-de-camp, and the 
former commandintr the mounted riflemen. These 
individuals had been awakened by their commander, 
before four o'clock, and preparations were making at 
the moment of the attack for the troops generally to 
turn out. Additional testimony ot a high and unim- 
peachable character might, if necessary, be adduced 
to repel the charge of Governor Harrison's having 
been taken by surprise. Another charge inculcated 
against the Commander-in-Chief, is, that he put the 
gallant Daviess on his white horse, in consequence 
of which that officer lost his life. In reply to this 
unfounded allegation, it is onl)- necessary to say, that 
Major Daviess was killetl while bravely charging on 
foot, and that he was not on General Harrison's horse, 
nor an)- other horse, during the engagement. This 
charge has been \arird, so as to make Gwcn insteatl 
of 1 )aviess the iiuli\iikial \\\\o was killed on C^icneral 
Harrison's white horse. This is equally untrue. C^wen 
was kiiletl upon his own white horse, and was not at 
any time during the action on cither of General Har- 



BIOGRArilY OF COLONEL CHARLES S. TODD. 63 

rison's horses. The facts, in this case, have been 
stated, distinctly, by the Commander-in-Chief, in a 
letter to Dr. Scott, of Frankfort, Ky. : ' 1 had in the 
campaign, for my own riding, a gray mare and a sor- 
rel horse. They were both fine ridinLr-na<js, but the 
mare was uncommonly spirited and active. I gen- 
erally rode them, alternately, day and day about. On 
the day we got to the town, I was on the mare, and 
as it was our invariable rule to have the horses saddled 
antl bridled through the night, the saddle was kept 
upon her ; and, like other horses belonging to my 
family, she was tied to a picket driven into the ground, 
in the rear of my marquee, and between that and the 
baggage-wagon. In the night the mare pulled up the 
picket and got loose. The dragoon sentinel awaken- 
ing my servant George, the latter caught the mare, 
and tied her to the wa^on-wheel on the back side. 
When the alarm took place, I called for the mare. 
George, being aroused from his sleep, and confound- 
edly frightened, forgot that he had removed her to 
the other side of the wagon, and was unable to find 
her. In the mean time, Major Taylor's servant had 
brought u|) his horse. The major observed that I had 
better mount him, and that he would get another, and 
follow me. I did so. Poor Owen accompanied me, 
mounted upon a remarkably white horse. Before we 
got to the angle which was first attacked, Owen was 
killed. I, at that time, supposed that it was a ball 
which had passed over the heads of the infantry that 
had killed him ; but I am persuaded that he was killed 
by one of the two Indians who got within the lines, 
and that it was extremely probable that they mistook 
him for me. Taylor joined me in a few minutes after, 



64 BIOGRAPHY OF COLONEL CHARLES S. TODD. 

mounted on my gray mare. I immediately directed 
him to ^ro and iret another. He returned to mv 
quarters, and preferring my sorrel horse to another 
of his own that was there, mounted him, and we thus 
continued on each other's horses till near the close of 
the action. Being then with both my aids-de camp, 
Taylor and Hurst, in the rear of the right flank line, 
the fire of several Indians near to the line was directed 
at us. One of their balls killed the horse that Taylor 
was riding, and another passed through the sleeve of 
his coat ; a third wounded the horse I was riding in 
the head, and a fourth was very near terminating my 
earthly career.' In December, iSii, the Legislative 
Council and House of Representatives of the Indiana 
Territory presented an address to Governor Harrison 
in reference to the batde of Tippecanoe, in which they 
bear testimony to his ' superior capacity,' ' integrity,' 
and ' other qualides which adorn the mind in a super- 
lative detrree.' In December, 1811, the Hon. John 
J. Crittenden moved the following Resolution in the 
Legislature of Kentucky, which, after being fully dis- 
cussed, was carried with only two or three dissenting 
votes: 'Resolved, That, in the late campaign against 
the Indians on the Wabash, Governor W'm. lk-nr\- 
Harrison has, in the opinion of this Legislature, be- 
haved like a hero, a patriot, and a general ; and that, for 
his cool, deliberate, skilful, and gallant conduct in the 
late batde of Tippecanoe, he well deserves the warm- 
est thanks of the nation.' Tiiis Resolution was ap- 
proved by Governor Scott. President Matlison. on 
the 18th of December, 181 1 , in a message to Congress, 
says, in regard to this batde : ' While it is deeply 
lamented that so many valuable lives have been lost 



BIOGRAPHY OF COLONEL CHARLES S. TODD. 65 

in the action which took place on the 7th ultimo, 
Cono-ress will see with satisfaction the dauntless spirit 
and fortitude displayed by every description of the 
troops engacred, as well as the collected firmness which 
distino-uished their commander on an occasion re- 
quiring the utmost exertion of valor and discipline.' 
M'Affee, in his History of the Late War, says : 'After 
much altercation, by which the batde of Tippecanoe 
was fought over again, and fully investigated, in all 
the public circles of the Western country, the public 
opinion preponderated gready in favor of the Gov- 
ernor. All the material accusations of his enemies 
were disproved ; and, after all the tesdmony had 
been heard, the common opinion seemed to be, that 
the army had been conducted with prudence, and that 
the batde had been fought as well as it could have 
been by any general, considering the Ume and man- 
ner of the attack.' Dawson, in his Life of Harrison, 
sa)s: 'The batde of Tippecanoe had a different 
character from any one diat had ever before been 
fought with the Indians. A victor>- had never been 
obtained over them where the force on both sides was 
nearly equal ; and in no batde that had ever before 
been fought with diem, were there so many killed in 
proportion to the number engaged.' The same writer 
adds : ' That mutual confidence, which ought always 
to subsist between the commander of an army and 
the troops commanded, perhaps never had been in a 
higher deofree manifested than at the batde of Tip- 
pecanoe. Wherever his presence was required during 
the action, there was the Governor to be found. The 
plan he had laid down previous to the batde was so 
well understood by his men, that, notwithstanding the 
9 



66 BIOGRAPHY OF COLONEL CHARLES S. TODD. 

enemy was not really expected that night, within less 
than two minutes after the first fire was heard every 
man was at his post.' Judg-e Hall, himself an officer 
in the late war with Great Britain, in speaking of the 
battle of Tippecanoe, says : ' As far as any commander 
is entided to credit, independent of his army, he 
(General Harrison) merits and has received it. He 
shared every danger and fatigue to which his army 
was exposed. In the battle he was in more peril than 
any other individual; for he was personally known to 
every Indian, and exposed himself fearlessly on horse- 
back, at all points of the attack, during the whole en- 
gagement. Every important movement was made 
by his express order.' Finally, we take leave of this 
subject, in the language of the same eloquent writer : 
'The field of Tippecanoe has become classic ground ; 
the x^merican traveller pauses there to contemplate 
a scene which has become hallowed by victory ; the 
people of Indiana contemplate with pride the battle- 
ground on which their militia won imperishable honor, 
and their infant State became enrolled in the ranks 
of patriotism.' " 

This work formed the basis of all the succeedinof 
Lives of Harrison. Colonel Todd included in it the 
peroration of the General's famous speech on Kosci- 
usko, and an extract from his speech on Jackson's 
conduct in the Seminole War. This last contains the 
passage so often quoted about the age of deification 
being past, and about Jackson living in the songs 
of the virgins, and the Constitution of the country 
remaining immortal. This speech is remarkable for 
its bold criticism on Jackson's policy, and its defence 



BIOGRAniV OF COLONEL CHARLES S. TODD. 67 

of such of the acts of that distinguished citizen as 
Harrison thought right. It is gratifying to me to 
know that Harrison did not think favorably of the in- 
stitution of slavery, — that great blot upon the fair 
fame of our country. He did not grapple with this 
question, as did the statesmen of a later period; but 
he acknowledged the evil, and said that we must wait 
" the slow but certain progress of those good prin- 
ciples which are everywhere gaining ground, and 
which assuredly will ultimately prevail." 

Colonel Todd also gives us Harrison's opinion on 
duelling, another wretched and barbarous practice, 
not yet wholly without its advocates in many parts of 
our country. General Harrison said that "the wealth 
and honor of the world would not tempt him to level 
a pistol at the breast of a man whom he had injured." 
He also said that, while he was in command of the 
Northwestern army, he declared his determination to 
punish, by all means that the military laws placed 
in his hands, any injury, or even insult, which should 
be offered by the superior to the inferior officer, and 
diat durinir his entire command he had the satisfac- 
tion of knowincr that not a sinole duel had been 
fought in his army, or even a challenge given. He 
said, in 1838, in a letter to a gentleman from New 
Jersey, who had addressed him on the subject: "In 
relation to my present sentiments, a sense of higher 
obligations than human laws or human opinions can 
impose, has determined me, never, on any occasion, 
to accept a challenge or seek redress for a personal 
injury by a resort to the laws which compose the 
code of honor." 

These passages from the Life of Harrison, by 



68 BIOGRAPHY OF COLONEL CHARLES S. TODD. 

Colonel Todd and ^Ir. Drake, are very interesting, 
and embrace nearly all the important events in the 
life of that great and good man up to the time of his 
nomination for the Presidency in 1840, The book 
well deserved the large circulation it had, and should, 
I think, be published again. 

Colonel Todd wrote the concluding chapter, in 
which Harrison's claims to the office of President of 
the United States are ably set forth : 

"Our narrative," says the writer, in conclusion, 
"of the civil and military services of Harrison is now 
closed. Brief and imperfect as it may appear, it is 
sufficient to establish his claim to a high rank as a 
civilian and a general. He has been thoroughly tried 
in the council and in the field, and in every situation 
has proved himself equal to the circumstances by 
which he has been surrounded. No citizen of the 
United States, it is believed, has ever filled so many 
civil and military offices as the subject of this memoir; 
and certainly no one has ever been more uniformly 
successful in discharoincr the trusts confided to him. 
If it be true that to jjlan and carry on a successful 
campaign ' requires an almost intuitive sagacity, 
great powers of combination, with prudence, caution, 
promptness, and energy, combined with perlect selt- 
reliance and self-control,' it may be assumed that 
General Harrison, who is admitted to possess these 
attributes, is an accomplishetl civil rukr; inasmuch 
as these are precisely the qualities whicli lit an indi- 
vidual for acting efficiently upon men and things as 
they exist around them. lUit there are other and 
more practical evidences of his capacity as a states- 



BIOGRAPHY OF COLONEL CHARLES S. TODD, 69 

man. More than twenty years of his Hfe have been 
spent in various important civil offices, many of them 
requiring indexible integrity, firmness, intelhgence, 
and wisdom. To prove that he possesses these vir- 
tues in a high degree, it is only necessary to recur 
to his acts as Governor of Indiana, as Indian Commis- 
sioner, and as a member of the national legislature. 
The messages, letters, and speeches, called forth by 
these different situations, are not only fine specimens 
of composition, but exhibit great accuracy of informa- 
tion, consistency of political principle, and maturity 
of judgment. Rising above all sectarian or party 
intluence, his views were at once national and deeply 
Imbued with the love of liberty; his voice and influ- 
ence have ever been exerted in sustainino^ the cause 
of freedom in this as well as other kindred lands. In 
his military capacity. General Harrison is not less 
distlnoulshed. As Commander-in-Chief of the North- 
western army, he was entrusted with more extensive 
and responsible powers than have been confided to 
any officer in our country, Washington alone excepted. 
The command assigned to him embraced an immense 
extent of territory, with a frontier of several hundred 
miles in length, stretching along the lakes (then in 
possession of the enemy), with harbors, inlets, and 
rivers, admirably suited to favor their attacks upon 
our scattered border settlements. To defend this 
extended line of frontier, the commander's forces 
were chiefly undisciplined militia — entirely wanting 
experience in the field — engaged for short terms of 
service, and held in obedience more by personal in- 
fluence than the force of authority. But it was not 
to the defence alone of this district that General Har- 



70 BIOGRAPHY OF COLONEL CHARLES S. TODD. 

rison's duties were confined. He was directed by his 
Government to act offensively against the enemy, by re- 
taking Detroit, and capturing tlie uppermost Canada, 
defended, as it was, by experienced British officers 
and soldiers, aided by a large body of Northwestern 
Indians. Detroit and Canada were separated from 
General Harrison's source of troops, munitions of 
war, and provisions, by a trackless and swampy wil- 
derness, without roads, and presenting almost in- 
superable obstacles to the transportation of army 
supplies, while, at the same time, it was precisely the 
region of country best adapted to the peculiar mode 
of warfare practised by the bold and ferocious Indians. 
Notwithstandinir these manifold difficulties, in about 
one year from the time when he was invested with 
the chief command of the Northwestern army. General 
Harrison drove the enemy from his extended military 
district, retook Detroit, defeated the combined army 
of Proctor and Tecumsch, on the Thames, conquered 
the uppermost Canada, and passed, as a victorious 
chieftain, down to the seat of war on the Niagara fron- 
tier. In many points, the military career of Harrison 
bears a strong analogy to that of Washington. The 
same extent of discretionary powers and responsibil- 
ities ; the same difficulties in procuring supi)lies of 
troops and provisions ; and, in part, the same obstacles 
in the nature of the country to be traversed, marked 
th<' history of both. They never hazarded tlie grand 
result by a minor enterprise, however tempting ; 
they sought no laurels by the wanton sacrifice of their 
soldiers, but regulated all their movements with a 
single aim to the public good. Both exercised the 
extensive powers with which they were invested 



BIOGRAPHY OF COLONEL CHARLES S. TODD. 7 1 

without any invasion of the laws or the rights of tlie 
citizen, and both retired to the peaceful pursuits of 
agriculture when the object which called them to 
the field had been effected ; finally, to both may be 
jusdy awarded the valor of Marcellus, the caution of 
Fabius, and the disinterestedness of Cincinnatus. 
Inflexible integrity and a self-sacrificing patriotism 
may be considered the crowning virtues of General 
Harrison's character. These virtues have marked 
his career in the council and in the field, in youth and 
in age. When asked by what means he was enabled 
so successfully to gain the love and obedience of the 
militia, who followed his banner during the late war, 
he replied : ' By treating them with affection and 
kindness — by always recollecting that they were my 
fellow-citizens, whose feelings I was bound to respect, 
and by sharing with them, on every occasion, the 
hardships which they were obliged to undergo.' 
Throughout the whole of his military campaigns, he 
shared with his soldiers in all their fatigues, dangers, 
and privations. We were lately assured by a member 
of his military family in the campaign of 1813, that the 
table of the Commander-in-Chief was often not as 
well supplied with provisions as those of the common 
soldiers; and that he has frequendy seen the General 
sitting by the fire roasting a piece of beef, and then 
eatinir it without salt or bread. On one occasion, 
after marching all day through a beech bottom cov- 
ered with mud and water, without their baggage or 
any provisions, the General, by way of preventing his 
troops from being discouraged, sat down upon a log, 
wrapped in his cloak, — the rain falling fast, and the 
gloom of a night in the wilderness only broken by a 



72 BIOGRAPHY OF COLONEL CHARLES S. TODD. 

few glimmering camp-fires, — and then gaily calling 
upon the officers to sing songs, he spread content 
and cheerfulness throuo-hout the whole detachment. 
By examples such as these, he gained the confidence 
and affection of the crowds of volunteer militia, who 
were attracted to his standard not less by their patri- 
otism as by the distinguished reputation of the Com- 
mander - in - Chief Since his retirement from the 
army, he has been the chief representative of the 
military class of our citizens in the region in which 
he lives. '1 hose who served under him in the late 
war make frequent pilgrimages to North Bend ; 
while the old soldiers, who foui/ht under Harmar, 
and St. Clair, and Wayne, not only throng his hos- 
pitable fireside, but look to General Harrison, above 
all other men, to present their claims to Congress 
for land or pensions on the score ot past services 
and sacrifices. While Governor of Indiana and 
Superintendent of Indian Affairs during a period of 
twelve years, he disbursed at his discretion, and with 
but few, if an\-, checks, very large sums of money ; 
and in the course of the late war he drew on the 
Treasury for more than six hundred thousand dollars 
for military purposes. Yet General Harrison retired 
from the public service poorer than he entered it, 
and has never been a defaulter to his Government. 
There are but two instances, it is believed, in which 
even a whisper of suspicion against the purity of his 
official conckicL has been heard. One of these, made 
by an army contractor, was investigated in Congre.ss, 
and the charge triumphanil)- refuted. The other 
occurred while Governor of Indiana. A foreigner 
residing in that Territory-, by the name of iNlcIntosh, 



EIOGRAPIIV OF COLONEL CHARLES S. TOUD. 73 

and possessing very considerable wealtli, having taken 
some offence, charged Governor Harrison widi having 
defrauded the Indians in the treaty of Fort Wayne, 
made in the year 1809. The accused very properly 
concluded that it was due to his own reputation, not 
less than to the interests of the general Government, 
that a charge of this kind should be fully investigated 
in a court of justice. He, therefore, instituted a suit 
in the Supreme Court of the Territory, and, after a 
full and fair trial before a judge and jury of admitted 
impartiality between the parties, a verdict was ren- 
dered against the defendant for four thousand dollars. 
The evidence was so conclusive in favor of Governor 
Harrison, that Mcintosh did not attempt to press the 
truth of the charge upon the jury, but only sought to 
lessen the amount of damages by pleading some 
matters in extenuation of his conduct. When the 
property of the defendant was levied upon to satisfy 
the judgment, it was bought in by an agent of the 
Governor, who immediately distributed one-third of it 
among the orphan children of his fellow-citizens that 
had died in battle ; and then restored the remainder 
to Mcintosh himself. It has been well observed that 
'no language of praise can add to the truth and force 
of the simple beauty of such an example of magnanim- 
ity, disinterestedness, and generosity.' Some years 
since it was discovered that a large tract of land, 
adjoining Cincinnati, which had been sold long pre- 
viously for a very small sum, under an execution 
against the original proprietor of the Miami country, 
could not be held under this sale in consequence of 
some defective proceedings in court. The legal title 
to this tract, now immensely valuable, was vested in 



10 



74 BIOGRAPHY OF COLONEL CHARLES S. TODD. 

Mrs, Harrison and another individual, as hcirs-at-law. 
Immediately upon being informed of the situation of 
this property, General Harrison procured the con- 
sent of the co-heir, and joined liim in releasing to the 
purchasers the whole of this land, without claiming 
any other consideration than the few hundred dollars 
which constituted the difference between the actual 
value at the time when sold, and the amount paid at 
the sheriff's sale. In 1804, the Governor of Indiana 
was, upon the suggestion of President Jefferson, made 
ex-offjcio Governor of ' Upper Louisiana.' Under the 
impression that it was sound policy to convince the 
inhabitants of the newly-acquired territory that they 
had lost nothing by the change. Governor Harrison 
declined receivinof the fees he was entitled to bv law, 
although those for Indian licenses alone would have 
brouijht him several thousand dollars. At the same 
time, the proprietor of St. Louis offered him, for a 
mere nominal sum, an undivided moiety of three- 
fourths of the town of St. Louis, and the adjoining 
lands, if he would assist in ])uildlng up that place. 
Such, however, was his nice sense of honor, that he 
declined the offer, feariuij it mioht be said that he 
had used his official station to promote his private 
interest. The property thus voluntarily refused, and 
which might have been accepted without an\- violation 
of principle, is probably worth al this time a million 
of dollars. While acting as Commander-in-Chief of 
the Northwestern army, General Harrison's expenses, 
owing to the extent t)f his command, and ihc amount 
of comj)any he was obliged to entertain at hoadtpiar- 
ters, so far exceeded his \>?l\\ that lie was comi)elled, 
before the close of the war, to sell a \aluabie tract 



BIOGRAniY OF COLONEL CHARLES S. TODD. 75 

of land to meet the current demands upon his purse. 
Soon after his resignation in the army, while the 
claims of a large family were pressing upon him, 
General Harrison had made up his mind to ask an 
appointment for one of his sons at West Point. Be- 
fore the application was made, however, a poor boy, 
the child of a neighbor, who had not the means of 
obtaining an education, made a personal appeal to 
the General to procure him a place in this institudon. 
He immediately waived the claims of his own son, 
and obtained a warrant for this poor lad, who was 
educated at the academy, and is now a distinguished 
citizen of Indiana, and takes great pleasure in bearing 
tesdmony to the noble disinterestedness of his patron. 
Similar instances of integrity and generosity might 
be multiplied, had we further space to narrate the inci- 
dents in the life of the veteran, whose patriotic policy 
founded, and whose skilful valor defended, the vast 
Northwest. The literary talent and attainment of 
General Harrison are uncommonly good. He is a 
sound scholar, not only familiar with the passing liter- 
ature of the day, but possessing a familiar acquaint- 
ance with ancient history, especially with tlie classic 
annals of Greece and Rome. His own writings and 
convcrsadon are forcibly illustrated by allusions to 
these works, and frequendy bear evidence of a mind 
richly imbued with the philosophy of history. The 
producdons of his pen, which are thrown oft" without 
an effort, are at once smooth, strong, and perspicuous, 
and written with remarkable simplicity and beauty ot 
style. As a speaker, he is animated, fluent, and forci- 
ble ; correct in his language, and peculiarly ready in 
bringing the resources of a cultivated understanding 



76 inOGRAPHV OF COLONEL CHARLES S. TODD. 

to bear upon any given subject. Both in body and 
mind, General Harrison enjoys a 'green old age.' 
His step is firm, his spirits buoyant, his conversation 
sprightly, instructive, and rich in anecdote. His 
countenance is expressive of kindness and genuine 
philanthropy ; and his dark, piercing eye has lost little, 
if any, of the fire and vivacity of his more youthful 
days. The strength of his memory and the accuracy 
of his judgment remain unimpaired. One of the latest 
productions of his pen, written but a few weeks since, 
is strongly characterized by the force, raciness, and 
nice discrimination, which belong to the meridian of his 
life. In temperament, warm and impulsive ; in man- 
ners, plain and unassuming ; in his habits, generous 
and hospitable, General Harrison combines, in an 
eminent degree, the manly frankness of a soldier, 
with the sturdy independence of a farmer." 

The campaign closed in a blaze of glory. Harrison 
was elected by one of the largest majorities ever 
given to any President. He was very popular with 
the people of the West, many of whom to this day 
love to recall arountl their hearthstones the incidents 
of that famous campaign. The terms Lo£- Cabin and 
Hard Cider, which were inscribed upon the Whig 
banners, transparencies, etc., originated in this way. 
General Harrison's house at North Rend, Ohio, or at 
least a part of it. was one of the original log cabins 
built by the early settlers of that countr)', and covered 
with clap-boards. The story became current tliat the 
great chieftain lived in the plainest manner in his log 
cabin, and that his kitch-string was always hung on 
the outside, and that the humblest man in the country 



BIOGRAPHY OF COLONEL CHARLES S. TODD. 77 

could enter whenever he pleased, and would always 
find a hearty welcome and a mug of cider ready for 
him. General Harrison was a very temperate man, 
and said, I think, in one of his speeches, that the 
strongest liquor he ever drank was a mug of hard 
cider. Anyhow, the story became popular, and pic- 
tures represendng a log cabin and barrels of cider 
were emblazoned on the banners and transparencies 
of the Whigs, which were carried triumphantly in 
their processions, in the midst of the wildest cheers, 
in which all classes joined, the high and low, and rich 
and poor. 

It is no exaggeration to say that more than a 
thousand and one songs were written in praise of 
the log cabin and " Old Tippecanoe," as Harrison 
was familiarly called. 

The followintr is a verse from one of the sones 
which any number of persons now living have helped 
to sing, or had dinned in their ears: 

"Hurrah for the Log Cabin, chief of our choice! 

For the Old Indian Fighter, hurrah! 
Hurrah ! and from mountain to valley the voice 

Of the people re-echoes hurrah ! 
Then come to the ballot-box, boys! Come along! 

He never lost battle for you : 
Let us down with oppression and tyranny's throng, 

And up with Old Tippecanoe I " 







78 BIOGRAPHY OF COLONEL CHARLES S. TODD. 



CHAPTER Vn. 

General Harrison expresses his Gratitude for Colonel Todd's Services — 
His Appointment as Minister to Russia — Success of his Mission — 
Felicitous Speech of Colonel Todd at a Banquet in St. Petersburg — 
Motley and Maxwell in his Official Family — Colonel Todd's Visit to 
the Interior of Russia — Important Despatches. 

GENERAL HARRISON was very grateful for 
the services Colonel Todd rendered him during 
the campaign. And he often said that he owed,, in a 
great part, his triumph to him, and on one occasion, 
w^hile discussing with his Cabinet the appointments 
and duties of the administration, said to Mr. Web- 
ster: "I shall not be sadsfied with the appointments 
of the Department of State, unless a first-class posi- 
tion is given to my old friend and companion-in-arms, 
Colonel Todd." As an instance of the regard in 
which Colonel Todd was \ut\d by General Harrison's 
family, it maybe added, that, when General Harrison 
was takino- leave of his family for his inauouration at 
Washington, iMrs. Harrison, putting her arms around 
him, exclaimed: ''General, I want you to take care of 
our dear friend. Colonel Todd ; he loves you so viuchy 
Colonel Todd accompanied General Harrison to 
Washington, and remained with him as a member of 
his family during the short interval that he occupied 
the Presidential chair ; and, as the last sad office, ac- 
companied his remains to North Bend, and, by request 
of Mrs. Harrison, selected the spot for his burial. 

On die death of Harrison, President Tyler, desir- 
ing- to carry out the wishes of Harrison, appointed 



BIOGRAPHY OF COLONEL CHARLES S. TODD. 79 

Colonel Todd envoy - extraordinary to St. Peters- 
burg. While in Russia, Colonel Todd elicited the 
most flattering compliments from the Administration. 
Mr. Webster was particularly lavish in the praise he 
bestowed on him. The Emperor of Russia showed 
him many marks of his esteem, and would have him 
attend his parades, where often more than one hun- 
dred and fifty thousand troops exhibited their skill 
and discipline. Colonel Todd induced the Emperor 
to secure the services of the distincruished eneineer, 
Mr. Whisder, for the construction of railroads in the 
empire. Colonel Todd was elected a member of the 
Imperial Agricultural Society, which is the only com- 
pliment of the kind, I believe, that has ever been paid 
to an American citizen. Colonel Todd was one of the 
best speakers at a banquet I ever heard. After-din- 
ner speeches are seldom readable, on account of the 
subjects which present themselves being so hack- 
neyed that it is almost impossible for a speaker to 
say anything new in reference to them. 

The following speech of Colonel Todd's, delivered 
at the celebration of the English Diplomatic Club, is, 
I think, wholly free from objections of this kind. It 
was extensively copied by the English and American 
papers, and Mr. Webster spoke of it as being in 
very fine taste. The President of the Club, Count 
Worontzord Daschhoff, after having proposed the 
health of the Emperor, offered a toast to the nations 
in unity with Russia. Colonel Todd then said : 

" I rise to address the President with mingled emo- 
tions of pleasure and regret, — pleasure, for the com- 
pliment you have conferred in asking me to respond 



80 BIOGRAPHY OF COLONEL CHARLES S. TODD. 

to the toast to the nations In unity with Russia ; and 
reeret, on beholdincr the vacant chair of Baron Sle- 
ghtz, whose animated eyes gave evidence a year ago 
of the dehght he enjoyed in this anniversary. He 
was the Rothschild of Russia. If there are any 
Enolishmen here, I thank them in the name of the 
descendants of those Enghshmen who first planted 
a oovernment of laws in Massachusetts and in Vir- 
ginia, the mother of nearly all the American Presidents. 
I conorratulate Encjland and America on the recent 
treaty that has reconciled their principal difficulty. 
This treaty will give new vigor to their commercial 
relations. I congratulate them on being preserved 
from war, which, in its progress, might have involved 
even eieantic Russia, whose colossal arms reach over 
Europe, Asia, and America. May England and 
America be rivals only in the race for true glory. 

" If there are any Swedes here, I thank them in the 
name of the descendants of those that first civilized 
New Jersey, whose gallant and intellectual sons ren- 
der her worthy of sucli worthy sires. If there are 
any Frenchmen here, I thank them in the name of 
the descendants of the Huguenots, who fied from the 
Old World after the revolution of the Edict of Nantes, 
and formed a home in the New World, and imparted 
their noble character to South Carolina, the Palmetto 
State of the South. 

"If there are any Dutchmen here, I thank them in 
the name of the descendants of those Hollanders 
who first peopled the Em^/ire State, New York; one 
of whose sons, Was/iiiiolon Irving, now adorns the 
American 1 )iplomatic service as Minister to Spain, 
and dcliglus all Europe with sketches ot England — 



mOGRArilV OF COLONEL CHARLES S. TODD. Si 

enlightened, free, and poiuerfid England, who would 
place his name to the remotest posterity in the same 
wreath of lame that encircles the brow of her own 
i.'\ddison. 

"If there are any Germans here, I thank them in the 
name of their German brethren in Pennsylvania, and 
Ohio, and of the beautiful city of Cincinnati, which, 
in respect to the mechanic arts, internal trade, archi- 
tectural taste, and noble institutions of literature and 
benevolence, may be justly regarded as the Moscow 
of the New World. If there are any Russians here, 
1 thank them in the name of my forefathers, who 
were indebted to the friendship of the great Catharine 
in the Armed neutrality of 1780. I thank them in the 
name of my compatriots of 1814, who were under 
obligations to the liberal views and good offices of 
the Emperor Alexander of glorious memory. 

"It is indeed a delightful task, to dwell upon the re- 
lation existing between Russia and the United States. 
It is something worthy of the contemplation of other 
Powers, to see two great nations, the most extensive 
in territory and resources in the Old and the New 
World, always living in peace. 

"Ancient and modern history present no such 
bright examples. To Russia and America the tem- 
ple of Janus has ever been closed. May it never be 
opened. I conclude with offering an apology for 
having probably exhausted your patience. When my 
beloved country is complimented in a foreign land, 
my heart is full, and out of the fulness of the heart 
the mouth speaketh. I propose the health of the 
hereditary Grand - Duke. May he emulate in his 
career the destiny which his august father has ful- 



II 



b2 



BIOGRAPHY OF COLONEL CHARLES S. TODD. 



filled in combining the energy of Peter with the mag- 
nanimity of Alexander." 

At the time Colonel Todd was appointed to the 
embassy at Russia, John Lathrop Modey was chosen 
the First Secretary of Legation. Mr. ^lodey had 
travelled in Europe, and had passed a )ear at the 
University of Gottingen, and a year at Berlin, and he 
proved a delightful companion and a v/arm personal 
friend of Colonel Todd's. ^lodey had published, the 
year previous, a very interesting novel, entitled A/or- 
ioJLs Hope, or the Memoirs of a > ^oiing Provincial, and he 
was anxious to make himself thoroughly acquainted 
wnth Russia and the Russians, for the purpose of writ- 
ing a book on the subject. The salary of the Secretary' 
of Legation at St. Petersburor is verv small, and 
INTr. Modey was not able to support his family with 
it ; and, after a short residence there of about two 
months, he returned to the United States; but during 
that short dme he became so well acquainted with 
the customs of the country, that he was enabled to 
prepare one of the most valuable essays on Peter the 
Great that has ever been written. 

Mr. Maxwell, another able and accomplished author, 
was appointed to the place vacated by Mr. Modey. 
Mr. Maxwell accompanied Colonel Todd to the inte- 
rior ^A Russia during the great fair at Xishnci Xovo- 
ijrodek. 

This was the first instance of an American Minister 
ever hax'Ing penetrated iiUo the interior of the Em- 
pire further than Moscow; and Colonel Todd gave a 
highly interesting account of the trip in a despatch 
to the State Department. Colonel Todd mentioned. 



BIOGRAPHY OF COLONEL CHARLES S. TODD. S3 

that, after having secured the necessary passport, lie 
set out from St. Petersbure^ on the iStli of Auoust, 
and extended his journey as fa-r as Nishnei, at the 
junction of the Oka with the Volga, and from thence 
to Kazan, the ancient Tartar capital, situated a short 
distance above the mouth of the Kama. If he had 
travelled two days further, he would have reached the 
western limits of Asia. I have often heard Colonel 
Todd speak of the pains he took to interest the peo- 
ple on his route in America, and to encourage among 
them a friendly feeling toward us. Colonel Todd also 
witnessed the terrible conflagration at Kazan, which 
destroyed more than two-thirds of the entire city. 
This was one of the most extensive fires in the world, 
equalled probably only by the recent conflagration 
at Chicago. Colonel Todd, in one of his descriptions 
of the annual fair at Nishnei, said that more than three 
hundred thousand strangrers had orathered there from 
all parts of the world. He said that it was a rare 
spectacle to see so many people speaking so many 
different lanoruasfes. I remember his tellinij me how 
much interested he was in seeing in the interior of 
Russia the cotton and rice from our own country by 
the side of that erown in Rukaria. 

Colonel Todd's despatches to the Secretary of State 
while at Russia are very interesting and instructive. 
In his letters to -\I. Bodisco and Count Nesselrode 
he showed how utterly impossible it was for him to 
allow anything to escape his attention that concerned 
the interest of the United States. The following 
despatch, in reference to our commerce with Russia, 
addressed to that accomplished scholar and diplo- 
matist, Count Nesselrode, explains itself: 



84 BIOGRAPHY OF COLONEL CHARLES S. TODD. 

"The United States Legation at St. Petersburg. 

" The undcrsitjned pays his respect, etc., to his E.xcel- 
lency Count Nesselrode, the Chancellor of the Empire, and 
has the honor to acknowledge the receipt of his Excellency's 
note of the 23d June (O. S.), together with its enclosure, 
consisting of a despatch of that date to his Excellency M. 
Bodisco, his Imperial Majesty's Minister Plenipotentiar}' at 
Washington, which his Excellency the Chancellor is pleased 
to regard as a full reply to the note of the undersigned of 
12th June, '24, in relation to the right of the United States 
to participate in the recent favor granted to English com- 
merce. 

" The undersigned regrets to perceive, from the general 
tenor of that despatch, an unwillingness on the part of the 
Imperial Ministry to extend the favor to the United States. 
He the more regrets the result from the special ground on 
which his Excellency the Chancellor has predicated the opin- 
ion that the United States cannot, in this case, insist upon the 
application of the stipulations of the thirteenth article of the 
existing treaty between Russia and the United States ; his 
Excellency asserting the right of the Imperial Government 
to deny this privilege to the United States upon the plea 
that the concession to England was not gratuitous, hut 
was a part return for certain reductions in the tariff of her 
Britannic Majesty favorable to Russian exports. 

" The undersigned, in adverting to the adnu'ssion made 
by his Excellenc)' in the recent interview, that this favor 
was without condition, does not doubt that his Excellency 
had reference in that remark to the terms of the Ukase, 
containing, as it does, no allusion to the modifications in 
the English tariff. The undersigned, however, did not un- 
derstand his Excellency as maintaining in that interview, 
nor in the despatch to M. Bodisco, that these British modi- 
fications were avowed by that Government to be condi- 
tional upon the fact of his Majesty's Government adopting 
eciuiv.ilcnt regulations in favor of Great Britain. On the 



BIOGRAPHY OF COLONEL CHARLES S, TODU. 65 

contrary, the undersigned supposes that these changes in the 
English tariff were made without cor.Htions; for if they had 
been made conditional, he presumes, the Ukase would have 
contained a reference to such conditions in addition to the 
other motives stated in that document. In the absence, 
then, of such conditions upon the face of the Imperial Ukase, 
or of the contingency supposed that the British regulations 
were not conditional, the undersigned deems it due to the 
interest of his country, designed to be secured by the thir- 
teenth article of the existing treaty, not to admit the sound- 
ness of the position which his Excellency has advanced in 
the despatch to M. Bodisco. He is equally at a loss to per- 
ceive the applicability of the suggestion that the exports of 
Russia to the United States do not find a ready sale in con- 
sequence of the heavy duties in the American tariff. No 
treaty, or public law, prevents either nation from regulating 
its duties on imports in such mode as to it may seem right 
and proper. In the exercise of this right, the United States 
have only sanctioned the principle and practice of Russia 
in similar cases. Both nations desire, very justly, to protect 
their own industry; and if the United States, by a protec- 
tive duty, are making progress in securing even a partial 
supply at home of hemp and its fabrics, his Majesty's Gov- 
ernment has exercised a similar right in the heavy duties 
upon tobacco, amounting to a prohibition in the direct 
trade. The right to impose countervailing duties is ad- 
mitted as belonging to both nations. But the undersigned 
cannot perceive the propriety of the Imperial Ministry 
treating the duties on Russian products in the United 
States as authority for granting a special favor to ICngland. 
which, upon its face, is without conditions, but which is 
attempted by subsequent explanations to be regarded as 
conditions, and therefore not subject to the stipulations of 
the thirteenth article of the existing treaty. His P^xcellency 
the Chancellor has suggested that this favor to England 
is an experiment for this season, made with the design to 
foster the native industry of Russia in the establishments 



86 LIOGRAPIIV OF COLONEL CHARLES S. TODD. 

for refining sugars ; and that it is, therefore, impracticable 
to enter into negotiations on this subject, until there shall 
be time afforded to test the result of the experiment. The 
undersigned cannot suppose it was the intention of his 
Excellency to advance the opinion that a favor granted to 
England does not enure to the benefit of the United States, 
under the thirteenth article of the existing treaty, merely be- 
cause it is an experiment for this season of navigation; nor 
does he suppose that the recent changes in the English 
tariff are designed only as an experiment for this season. 
On the contrary, he supposes that, if they were made per- 
manent without reference to a repeal at any specified time, 
the favor to England must become permanent, and thus this 
ground for delay in extending the favor to the United States 
during this season looses the force which his Excellency the 
Chancellor has been pleased to attach to it. 

" The undersigned repeats his solicitude to be able to trans- 
mit to his Government an answer to his note of the I2th 
of June, O. S., of a character more favorable to American 
interest than that contained in the despatch to M. Bodisco ; 
for he is aware that the season for navigation is passing 
away too rapidly to expect that any shipments can be made 
during this year from America, if they are to depend upon 
the result of explanations between his Excellency M. Bodisco 
and the Department of State at Washington. 

" In the hope that the Imperial Ministry may, upon a 
review of this subject, extend to the United States the favor 
already granted to England, the undersigned avails him- 
self of the occasion to renew to his Excellency the Chan- 
cellor an assurance of his perfect respect. 

C. S. Todd." 

"iSth July, I845." 

The despatch of Colonel Tockl to M. Bodisco, in 
June, 1845, "^^^ ^o ^^'^^ importation of crushed sugar, is 
a ver\- valuable document, and may appropriately be 
introduced here : 



BIOGRAPHY OF COLONEL CHARLES S. TODD. 87 

" St. Petersburg, 23(1 June, 1845. 
" Your Excellency is aware that the manufacture of sugar 
from the cane has, for a number of )'ears, formed a branch 
of industry with us, which our commercial legislation al- 
ways protects. From a regard to the interests of our 
native refineries, raw sugar alone is allowed to enter by the 
tariff; and all sugar of the cane which has passed through 
any degree of purification, excluded. This system has 
been maintained until now. The disasters suffered during 
the past year by the plantations of Cuba, however, have led 
the Imperial Government to consider the means that may 
be necessary to prevent too great a rise in the price of 
sugar; and, by the Ukase of 19th of March, the importation 
of sugar half refined, bruised, or in lumps, commonly called 
(in commerce) cnishcd liniips, has been allowed. At the 
same time, in order to protect native manufactures, they are 
admitted only under certain restrictions ; they must be im- 
ported for the use of refineries alone, and pay the same duties 
as raw sugar, \'iz., three roubles, eight j capites, silver, per pound. 
The importation, furthermore, is limited to the harbor of 
St. Petersburg and to the duration of the navigation of 
1845. Besides, even this temporary admission has not 
been generally granted, but is confined to the sugar lumps 
comine from England. Aside from the interests of our 
refineries, this last arrangement has been induced by the 
steps taken on the i)art of the British Government for sev- 
eral years past, to obtain for English commerce the right 
of importing lumps, but especially by the facilities and 
marked deductions of duties which the new English tariff 
offers to Russian commerce. 

" The preference conceded to ICngland, though but tem- 
porary, seems to have alarmed the American commerce. 
The United States Minister has come to converse with me 
on the subject; citing, among others, the stipulations of the 
treaty of 6-1 8th December, 1832, which assures to Amer- 
ican commerce in Russia the same rights and privileges 
enjoyed by the most favored nations. I have hastened 



88 BIOGRAPHY OF COLONEL CHARLES S. TODD. 

to present to Mr. Todd the explanations best suited 
to exhibit the nature and object of the arrangements in 
question. Not only are they provisory and adopted as a 
simple experiment, but they do not seem to us to be op- 
posed to the stipulations of the treaty cited by Mr. Todd. 

" These stipulations have never been lost sight of. On 
the contrary, wc think they have been constantly and scru- 
pulously observed. American commerce has always met 
with the most favorable treatment from us, and the prin- 
ciple of reciprocity consecrated in the treaty has never 
experienced, and could never experience, the slightest in- 
fraction at our hands. But the eleventh article of the treaty 
reserves to us expressly the right of granting to other na- 
tions any special favor in point of commerce and naviga- 
tion, provided this favor be made common to the United 
States, and the latter enjoy it gratuitously, if the concession 
be gratuitous, or by means of the same compensations, if 
conditional. 

"Now the admission of crushed lumps coming from 
England has not been gratuitously conceded. It is, as 
already said, a just return for the arrangement of the new 
English tariff. The Imperial Government has, therefore, 
thought itself justified in making this concession to Eng- 
land, with the reserve, if need be, of having an understanding 
with the Government of the United States on the conditions 
under which the American commerce could be admitted to 
participate in the same. Even now would we be ready to 
enter into negotiations on this matter, if, as observed above, 
the arrangement concerning crushed lumps were not a tem- 
porary and provisory measure. 

"The >-car 1S45 will, doubtless, be sufficient to show 
how iar it will be necessary to prolong the duration or ex- 
tend the application of this measure. Experience alone, 
however, will be able to influence the Imperial Government 
in deciding on this matter. ^'et, if, without too great 
injury to native industry, the possibilit\- of admitting con- 
ditionalK' half-rcfined sugars should be thereby demon- 



BIOGRAPHY OF COLONEL CHARLES S. TODD. 89 

strated, the Russian Government would not fail to take 
into due consideration the interest and wishes of American 
commerce, l^he Government of the United States, on the 
other hand, will no doubt lend its aid to facilitate the 
realization of these friendly arrangements, manifesting, in 
return, due regard to the interests of Russian commerce, 
and the wishes that might be expressed by us. 

" Too heavy duties are imposed on several Russian pro- 
ducts in the United States to allow of their being sold with 
any advantage there. A reduction of duties on these ob- 
jects would, therefore, take away one of the obstacles which 
still hinder the entire development of commercial relations 
between the two countries. 

" I invite you, Sir, to make explanations in this sense to 
the Cabinet at Washington." 
12 



^r^ 




QO r.IOGRArilY OF COLONEL CHARLES S. TODD. 



CHAPTER Mil. 

Colonel Todd returns to Frankfort — Delivers a Lecture on Russia — 
Withdraws from a Contest for the Governorship of Kentucky — Accepts 
the Office of Commissioner under the Mexican Treaty — Advocates a 
Railroad to the Pacitic. 

COLONEL TODD'S mission to Russia expired 
in 1846, and he returned to the United States, 
and resumed the practice of law at Frankfort, Ky. 
A short time after his return he was invited to dehvcr 
a lecture before the Frankfort Athoicdiun, on the 
Russian Empire. 

The lecture may be appropriatcl\- introduced here 
entire. It is one of the best condensed accounts 
that I have ever read concerning that empire : 

"RUSSIA: HER RESOURCES, RELlOluN, LITERATURE, ETC. 

"The Empire of Russia, in her vast extent and resources, 
in her history and distinctive character, is new to us, as she 
is indeed to many of the nations of the Old World. She 
reaches from the Frozen Ocean to the Black Sea, and from 
the lialtic and Gulf of Bothnia to the Ural Mountains, sep- 
arating Europe from Asia, and thence through Siberia to 
the Indian Ocean. She exceeds in territory all the nations 
of l^urope. Throusj^hout her vast extent, wilh the exception 
of the L'l'al .Mountains, she i)resents one continuous jtlain, 
embracing every variet}' of climate and production, w ith a 
soil so rich and iliversified that hem]), and m.ui\- of the 
tropical fruits, and nearl)' e\-ei-\- species of grain, except 
Indian corn, may be foinul among her exports. 

" In considering this subject, I may be led to speak very 
brieflN' of her history, religion, sciences, fine arts, literature, 



BIOGRAPHY OF COLONEL CHARLES S. TODD. 9 1 

commerce, a^^riculture, manufactures, revenue, debt, ex- 
ports, navy, army, climate, nobility, merchants, and peas- 
ants ; resources, government, police, and Emperor. The 
most cursory examination of these various aspects of the 
subject would alone fill a volume. It is my present purpose 
to give them only a passing glance. 

" Of her History. — Prior to the time of Peter the Great, 
who assumed the title of Autocrat and Emperor, with abso- 
lute power, the ancient dynasty resided at Moscow under 
the title of Grand-Duke or Czar, with princes of the Grand 
Duchy exercising regal powers in the different govern- 
ments or provinces, somewhat on the plan of the petty 
sovereignties in Germany. At a very remote period, all 
of the country beyond Poland was under the Tartar au- 
thority, with their capital at Kazan on the Volga, seven 
hundred miles beyond Moscow. The religion of that 
day was Mohammedan, and it was not until some eight 
hundred years ago that the Greek religion was introduced 
into Russia by the baptism of the Grand-Duchess Olga, 
at Constantinople. Peter, by the establishment of his 
capital on the Baltic, brought his nation, made up of many 
tribes, into contiguity with Europe, and Russia thus ceased 
to be an Asiatic power. Karamzin, her great historian, 
has described, and Poushkin, her great poet, has sung the 
ancient heroes of the country ; but the story of Russia 
is little known beyond the days of her first great law- 
givers in the persons of Ivan and Alexis. Napoleon, on 
witnessing, as he advanced into Russia, the destruction of 
her resources and the burning of her ancient capital by the 
self-sacrificing patriotism of her own subjects, affected to 
speak of them as the modern Scythians ; but, at this day, 
the memory of Rostopchin, the governor of Moscow, is 
regarded with the veneration due to a national benefactor. 
Catharine the Second endeavored to carry out the system 
of Peter, and rendered our patriotic fathers noble service 
by her armed neutrality of 1780; and, in the war of 1812, 
the enlightened Alexander placed our country under last- 



92 BIOGRArHV OF COLONEL CHARLES S. TODD. 

ing obligation by the offer of his mediation with Great 
Britain. While we were struggling as Colonies, the great 
Peter was founding his city of palaces, and bringing East- 
ern magnificence into contact with the energy and arts of 
Europe. Yet it is a memorable coincidence, that, when 
Peter, the great Northern light, descended below the horizon 
in 1725, Washington, the bright star of the West, arose in 
1732, to become also the founder of a great nation, and to 
present to distant ages 'an immortal example of true glory' 
destined to ' shine on, like the path of the just, more and 
more into the perfect day.' 

" The best historv- of Russia is that bv Karamzin, brought 
up to the close of Alexander's reign. Interesting histories 
of the War with Napoleon have been written by Bowtourlin 
and Danilefsky. Bell's history is chiefly an epitome of 
Karamzin. The most impartial account of travels in that 
empire is by Elliott, an Englishman ; also, in Letters from 
the Baltic, by an English lady ; in Travels by Kohl, a Ger- 
man ; and in Lectures by our excellent Dr. Baird. 

" The Greek is the religion of Russia. Of the sixty 
millions of subjects, upwards of forty millions are of the 
national faith. The Emperor stands in the same relation 
to the Greek that the Pope does to the Romish Church. 
Until Peter assumed to himself all ecclesiastical as well as 
political power, the head of the Church was called tlie 
Patriarch, with archimandrites, metropolitans, and bishops. 
I refer to an article published in the Presbyterian Herald, at 
Louisville, about the first of Januar\' last, as showing a 
comparison between the doctrines held in the Eastern or 
Greek, and the Western or Romish Church. iWX Protestants 
uill recognize the Greek articles as according more nearly 
with their own ; while the P!mperor treats the Romish as 
not orthodo.x. The forms in the Greek services are even 
more imposing than those in the Romish, and the feast- 
days are equally numerous. The period of Lent is kc[)t 
with great strictness, especialK' during the first and last 
week. The festivities in the Carnival are \er\- boisterous. 



BIOGRAPHY OF COLONEL CHARLES S. TODD. 93 

The ceremonies on Easter morning are peculiar, and par- 
take largely of the courtesy belonging to Eastern manners. 
To be a witness of five hundred Russian men kissing each 
other in the streets on that day might perhaps be a com- 
pensation to some tastes for a trip to that distant region. 
There are no seats in a Greek church ; all the worshippers 
stand up, and, during particular parts of the service by the 
priests, the people cross themselves and bow, which is re- 
peated from time to time when some more solemn occasion 
leads them to kneel down and place their foreheads on the 
floor. They are coming in and going out during the two 
hours' service. None but vocal music is employed, and 
this is rendered solemn and touching from a choir of twenty 
or thirty boys from eight to twenty years of age; each 
chanting one note. The priest usually reads with his back 
to the congregation, and the service is performed inside of 
a partition of lattice-work, perhaps like the inner veil of the 
Temple. While the Emperor is jealous of proselytes being 
made from his own Church, and all officers under the Gov- 
ernment are required to take the sacrament once a year 
in some church, his policy is above all praise in allowing 
freedom of conscience and of public worship by every sect, 
Catholics, Jews, Mohammedans, and Protestants; and it is 
a fact creditable to the liberality of a monarch possess- 
ino- unlimited power in Church and State, that, during my 
residence in Russia, four, if not more, of his principal min- 
isters — General Count Clein Michel, Minister of Ways and 
Communications ; Count Cancrire, Minister of Finance ; 
Count Nesselrode, Chancellor of the Empire and Secretary 
of Foreiern Affairs ; and General Count Benkendorf, Chief 
of the Military Staff and of the Secret Police — were all 
Protestants, and among the ablest men in his Cabinet. 

" The institutions for the promotion of science arc enti- 
tled to high commendation. The records of the Imperial 
Academy of Sciences show a valuable addition to the 
department of universal knowledge. Their researches, by 
land and by sea, are worthy of a place by the side of those 



94 BIOGRArilV OF COLONEL CHARLES S. TODD. 

prosecuted by Great Britain, France, and America. The 
observatory, near St. Petersburg, is an honor to the Impe- 
rial taste, and contains the largest telescope in the world. 
It was manufactured at Munich, in Bavaria. The Museum 
connected with the Academy of Sciences is admirably ar- 
ranged, with choice specimens from ever>' quarter of the 
globe ; among them the remains of the Mammoth found 
sixty years ago on the ice in the River Lena, the Mississippi 
of Siberia. The Imperial Botanical Garden is a proud monu- 
ment of the public taste for this interesting science. The 
plants occupy a space of three-quarters of a mile, and have 
been collected, at vast expense, from every climate of the 
globe. Rich contributions have been made from I^razil, the 
Cape of Good Hope, from Australia, and from the Himalaya 
Mountains in Asia. A visitor to this great panorama of ^ 
nature will be gratified by an inspection of the green and. 
black tea trees of China, of all the acacias of the East, of 
all the fruit-trees of the tropics, and even the cane of the 
Mississippi. The collection would be unrivalled, if it had 
that most magnificent of evergreens, our own noble mag- 
nolia. The Imperial Library contains four hundred thousand 
volumes and twenty thousand manuscripts, among them a 
letter from Washington, whom they regard as the Amer- 
ican Peter. 

"The system of Public Instruction is entrusted to a min- 
ister of state. There are five universities in the Empire: 
at St. Petersburg, Moscow, Kazan, on the Volga, Keif, near 
the IMack Sea, and at Dorpat, near Riga, on the Baltic. 
The colleges for boys, and institutes for girls, are sustained 
on the most liberal plan. There is a college connected with 
the Foreign Office, in which those destined for the diplomatic 
service are taught the Asiatic languages. It is this system, 
and their aptitude to acquire foreign languages, that gives 
such efficiency to the representatives of the lunpire abroad. 
The edifice devoted to the Academy of F"inc Arts conveys 
a just impression of the public taste; it contains a rich col- 
lection, not only of foreign and ancient paintings, but many 



BIOGRAPHY OF COLONEL CHARLES S. TODD. 95 

of oreat merit bv native artists. The Russians are distin- 
guished as copyists. Their genius is particularly displayed 
in the erection of the Bronze Horse; and the Equestrian 
Statue of Peter, in the St. Isaac's Square, is the most cele- 
brated effort o( the kind in Europe. The collection of 
paintings in the Hermitage, connected with the winter 
palace, claims the attention of the traveller as much as the 
collections at Berlin, Dresden, Versailles, and the Louvre. 

"The Imperial Arsenal, at Tsarsko-Celo, is a remarkable 
curiositv ; the armor of the last six centuries is there dis- 
played ; the object of deepest interest in the collection 
being the celebrated Tippoo-Saib sitting upon the stuffed 
skin of his identical war-horse, the most perfect model of 
that animal extant. 

"In touching briefly upon the Fine Arts, I may add that 
too much praise cannot be awarded to Peter the Great, for 
inculcating among his subjects, by his own noble example, 
the importance of the mechanic arts to the welfare of a 
State. He visited Holland, to study the trade of a ship- 
builder ; and I saw, near the church of the Ancient For- 
tress, where the remains of the Imperial family are deposited, 
and near the Mint, in which the precious metals of Siberia 
are coined, the first boat which that great artist constructed, 
and with which he navigated the Baltic. This practical 
knowledge became the means of several victories over the 
Turks, in which the Czar himself was the admiral. I saw, 
also, the first log cabin he had erected on the island where 
the veneration of his people has preserved the clothes and 
the implements with which he followed the trade of a cob- 
bler, presenting to his subjects the same brilliant contrast 
of public usefulness to the lazy career of the nobility, which 
the great Roger Sherman (the shoemaker of Connecticut) 
exhibited to the aristocracy of our own country. But it 
should be borne in mind, that the handicraft specimens of 
the sji'eat mechanic were onl\' the trifles of his industry; 
that these did not interfere with his gigantic energy, as a 
statesman, in consolidating various tribes into one govern- 



96 BIOGRAPHY OF COLONEL CHARLES S. TODD. 

ment, and in giving character and nationality to the whole 
mass of what were then his barbarous subjects; nor did his 
enlightened plans of policy arrest his efforts, by skill and 
valor in the field, to fortify his dynasty against the invasion 
by Charles XII. of Sweden. 

" The Literature of Russia deserves more respect than 
the journals of other nations have assigned to it. In the 
departments of history, of science, of poetry, and of diplo- 
macy, she should rank with many nations claiming to be 
more civilized. The language resembles the Greek in 
sound, having six Greek letters in the alphabet. Their 
historians have been already named ; Lomonosoff, Kaute- 
mar, Derjavine, Poushkin, and Koukolnic, will compare 
with the poets of ancient or modern times ; while the fame 
of Romanozoff, Lieven, Matenzervic, and Nesselrode will 
descend to posterity in the same diplomatic wreath with 
that of Talleyrand, Metternich, and Castlereagh, and only 
equalled by the ability that has distinguished the State 
papers of our own loved land. 

"The Commerce of Russia is chiefly internal and con- 
tinental, especially in the interchange of products with 
China and the East Indies. The vast canals, commenced 
by Peter, have been completed by his successors ; and 
there is now an internal communication between the Baltic 
and the Caspian Sea, independently of canals in Siberia 
that lead to rivers emptying into that great inland lake. 
Along this route the coarse cloths of Russia find their wa}' 
to Kiatka, on the frontier of China, and the famous tea of 
the East, grown only in the northern districts and never 
e.xported by sea, is brought to the Caspian, and thence up the 
Volga to the great annual fair at Nishnai, Novogorod, and 
thence b\- that river and canals to St. Petersburg. This 
voyage is effected in two \ears, owing to the long winter 
blocking up the canals. The foreign commerce is carried 
on from St. Petersburg and Riga on the Baltic, and from 
Odessa and Tangarog on the Black Sea. I deem it unne- 
cessar)-, in this place, to speak of the extent of this foreign 



BIOGRAPHY OF COLONEL CHARLES S. TODD. 97 

commerce, bein"; content to allude only to the character 
of her import duties ; these are eminently protective upon 
all the articles entering into competition with her manu- 
factures, and are, in some instances, prohibitory, as in the 
case of the direct introduction of our tobacco, while our 
cotton is scarcely burdened with any duty. A recent 
Ukase, permitting'the introduction of crushed sugars from 
England, has nearly destroyed the indirect trade so profit- 
able to our navigating interests, in which we send the 
Havana sugars to Russia. It is a source of satisfaction, 
however, to know that the manufacturing establishments in 
that Empire are inducing a fourfold increase in the con- 
sumj)tion of our cotton. 

" The Agriculture of Russia has not advanced as rapidly 
as her other branches of national industry, notwithstanding 
the Emperor is aided by the enlightened labors of an agri- 
cultural society, of which I had the honor to be elected a 
member. A laudable spirit, however, is just waking up 
there, as elsewhere, to advance this greatest of national in- 
terests. The implements of husbandry, in the interior, are of 
the rudest kind, though the cheapness of labor enables the 
cultivator to prepare his lands in a mode much neater than 
we should expect from the character of the implements. In 
this respect, a happy change is taking place in the desire to 
procure from America the improvements that distinguish 
our genius and energy, of which we have a gratifying evi- 
dence in the selection of a celebrated American engineer, 
Major Whistler, to superintend the railroad to Moscow, 
four hundred and forty miles, and the employment of 
Messrs. Harrison and Eastwick and W'inans to construct the 
locomotives and cars — a proud monument to American 
genius, skill, and integrity. Indeed, all the valuable inven- 
tions of our country are sought for, except our greatest 
invention, that of a Representative Democracy. The Agri- 
cultural Society of Russia is beginning to exercise the 
wholesome influence of giving dignity to the profession. 
The F^mperor often suggests plans for its consideration, 
13 



98 EIOGRAPIIV OF COLONEL CHARLES S. TODD. 

and adds valuable premiums for judicious improvements. 
Two of these plans were intimately connected with the 
national welfare : one, to procure an account of the most 
improved mode of kiln-drying grain, for exportation to the 
warm climates ; and the other, the most effectual scheme 
for preventing a scarcity of food in one province, while 
there should be a great supply in other provinces. This 
great desideratum is to be obtained solely by the construc- 
tion of eood roads, and other facilities of intercommunica- 
tion, and is doubtless occupying at this time the sagacity 
and energy of her indefatigable sovereign. In travelling 
to the interior, I was struck with the practice, so little 
known among us, of women reaping in the harvest-fields, 
a practice so general on the continent, and which is even 
tolerated in intellectual Scotland. In Russia, as indeed 
throughout the continent of Europe, the fields are culti- 
vated without division-fences, — the cattle and the sheep are 
attended by shepherds with their dogs, while the pigs are 
kept up in small lots near the dwelling. How different 
from the vast extent and care bestowed in our country upon 
fences to head that little animal ! 

" The Manufactures of Russia are beginning to elevate 
her in the estimation of other powers; vast efforts are in 
progress to extend the manufacture of refined sugar, of 
glass, and of cotton, the latter of which is leading to a rapid 
increase in the introduction of our great staple. A few 
years ago we had only ten, now we have sixt\- large ships 
engaged in that trade. There are nian\- large manufac- 
turing establishments for sheet-iron, and cotton and woollen 
cloths, around Moscow; an interesting establishment, at 
Tula, for the manufacture of fire-arms and cutler>- ; and, in 
the district of Crimea, a large capital is empkned in the 
manufacture of sugar from beets. At Moscow there is an 
annual fair for the exhibition of native manufactured arti- 
cles ; and a fair for the exchange of Asiatic, European, and 
American products at Nijnel Novogorod. on the Volga, four 
hundred miles beyond Moscow. Two hundred thousand 



BIOGRAPIIV OF COLONEL CHARLES S. TODD. 



90 



merchants, of different nations, are collected at the fair, and 
I could, in a two hours' walk along the respective streets, 
hear twenty different languages spoken. It was here that 
I found the cotton of the Mississippi, and the rice of South 
Carolina, by the side of the cotton and rice of Bokhara in 
the East Indies, each brought six thousand miles to be ex- 
changed in the centre of Russia ; and it was here, too, that 
I encountered the rare incident of being supplied at a Per- 
sian hotel with barbecued mutton, and with what we call a 
Barrett melon, grown from the seed of a melon cultivated at 
Astrachan, at the mouth of the Volga, on the Caspian Sea. 
"The Revenue of Russia amounts to about one hundred 
million silver rubles, and is derived chiefly from the fol- 
lowing sources, to wit: 

Silver Hubles. 

Capitation tax on serfs ...... 20,000,000 

Tax on peasants (in lieu of personal service) . . 16,000,000 
Customs for St. Petersburg (other parts not inc 
Salt tax ..... 

Brandy tax .... 

Stamps ..... 

Mints ..... 

Per cent, tax on merchants' capital 
Tax on private mining in Siberia 
218 poods of gold from Government mines in Siberia, 
at 12,000 silver rubles each pood 



Total 



uded) 15,868,904 
14,500,000 
36,500,000 
2,000,000 
2,105,000 
1,500,000 
2,000,000 



2,616,000 
93,089,904 



"The Debt, though large, is relatively small compared 
with her resources and with the debt and resources of 
other Continental powers ; it is about three hundred 
million silver rubles, or two hundred and twenty -five 
million dollars, to which may be added the expenses of 
the railroad to Moscow at fift}' million rubles. The debt 
is a perpetual loan, subject to redemption at any time by 
the Government; and her credit is higher than that of any 
government in Europe. The exports of the Empire consist 



lOO BIOGRAPHY OF COLONEL CHARLES S. TODD. 

chiefly of wheat and rye, hemp and its fabrics, such as sail- 
duck, cordage, See, tallow, deal,&;c. ; and the large item of 
tallow indicates that it is a fine grass country, — blue grass, 
timothy, clover, and orchard grass being cultivated exten- 
sively and with great success. Oats, barley, and manna are 
cultivated chiefly for home consumption. The Irish potato 
is grown in abundance, and of a quality equal to that culti- 
vated on the Island of Michilimackinac. On visiting Mars 
Hill, near Moscow, — from whence Napoleon and his army 
first saw the object of their toils and ambition, and from 
whence I could have an entire view of that ancient city, 
with her gorgeous churches and mosques, with her venera- 
ble Kremlin, with her undulating, winding streets, and her 
magnificent edifices, partly Asiatic and partly European, — I 
could but designate the valley for miles along the adjacent 
river as a great cabbage patch ; cabbage soup, rye bread, 
and salt, being the general and national diet of the peas- 
antry. 

" The Navy of Russia, so far as ships are concerned, 
ranks as the third, if not the second, among the powers of 
Europe. It consists of nearly three hundred ships, many of 
them eighty, and a few of one hundred and twenty, guns. 
These are employed chiefly in the Baltic and Black seas; 
the want, however, of a great comn>ercial marine must limit 
the efficiency of these heavy floating batteries. The Em- 
peror manifests a laudable ambition in his efforts to increase 
this arm of his power. He is multiplying the number of 
his war-.steamers, and thinks the day is not far distant when 
these will supersede, in some degree, the use of the line-of- 
battle ships. The ' Kamschatska,' built by his authority at 
New York, is decidedly the finest war-steamer in Europe, 
bein'T second onlv to our own ' Missouri ' burned at Gibraltar. 
The voyages of Kruzenstern, written in masterly style, do 
honor to the enterprise of Russia ; and this venerable ad- 
miral permitted me to witness the exercises of the naval 
cadets under his care, where my national pride was gratified 
bv seeing a model of our late frigate 'President' used in 



'!d 



BIOGRAPHY OF COLONEL CHARLES S. TODD. lOI 

their naval lectures. The naval character of Russia was 
well sustained by Peter, as her admiral in the Black Sea, 
and subsequently by Potemkin in the reign of Catherine, 
and more recently by Admiral Heyden, who commanded 
her fleet in the battle of Navarino. 

"The Army of Russia exceeds in numbers that of any 
power in Europe. The regular force, which, in 1841, was 
nearly one million, has been reduced to seven hundred 
thousand ; of these, one hundred to one hundred and fifty 
thousand are employed on the frontier of the Caucasus; 
fifty thousand constitute the Imperial Guard at St. Peters- 
burg, and the rest arc stationed among the interior govern- 
ments of this vast Empire. The Emperor readily avails 
himself of the improvements introduced into other coun- 
tries in the equipments of this his great hobby, and it ap- 
pears to be an object of great solicitude to keep pace with 
the condition of the French troops. The army is recruited 
from time to time, according to the Emperor's opinion of 
the public exigencies, by a requisition upon the nobility for 
a certain per cent., from the peasantry, and such an amount 
as he may choose to raise from the Crown peasants. Mili- 
tary colonies are maintained in the interior, particularly 
in the direction of the Black Sea, where the soldiers are 
exercised in the winter and assist their families during the 
summer in the cultivation of the Crown lands. P^or mus- 
cular energy and intelligence, the Russian soldiers do not 
compare favorably with the French or American ; but in 
the precision of the military movements, especially on 
parade, they are superior to any other troops. Their firm- 
ness and constancy under a murderous fire have been at- 
tested on many of the best fought fields in Europe, whether 
under Suwarrow in Italy, or Benningsen and Platoff in 
Germany, or Kutosof and Barclay de Tolly. No adequate 
conception can be formed, in this country, of the brilliancy 
of an Imperial review of St. Petersburg, or of the interesting 
manoeuvres of fifty to one hundred thousand regulars at the 
summer encampment. The army, in two opposing divi- 



I02 BIOGRAPHY OF COLONEL CHARLES S. TODD. 

sions, executes all the supposed operations of a real cam- 
paign. To these exercises I was always invited by the 
Emperor; and, during 1845, witnessed the combination of 
one hundred thousand men, of which twenty thousand were 
cavalry, each regiment with a different major and horses of 
different colors, though each horse, in a regiment, was 
precisely alike. These horses are taught to move, at the 
sound of music, from a walk to a trot, then to a gallop, and 
thence back to a walk, always marking time. I should 
scarcely venture to state these facts, if some visitor to St. 
Petersburg had not published a similar account. 

"I beg leave, in this place, to read an extract from my 
Despatch No. 61, addressed to the Department of State, in 
September, 1845, in which my views as to the value of 
flying artillery, and suggestions as to our naval force, were 
placed in the possession of our Government before the 
commencement of the present war with Mexico: ' I add a 
copy of sundry notes from Aid-de-camp-General Count Or- 
luff, invitinijj me to the military review during the months of 
June,July, and August, in which one hundred thou.sand troops 
were entracfed. Prince Charles of Russia and the brother of 
the King of Holland, who married a sister of the Empress, 
attended these reviews. It was a gratifying spectacle to 
witness, as I did, from an eminence, a line of troops extend- 
ing two miles on my right and an equal distance on my 
left, in a plain so level that I could see the smoke of the 
artillery upon each of the distant flanks, and the exercises 
were closed by a magnificent display in three columns, one 
of seventy-five thousand infantr\', a battalion deep, and 
extending more than a mile ; another of two hundred pieces 
of artillery ; and the other, of twenty thousand cavalry of 
twenty-five regiments, each with a different uniform and 
horses of different colors, though the horses of the same 
regiment were precisely alike. I was impressed by the 
richness of the uniforms of the cavalry regiments, as well as 
In- the action and discipline of the horses; by the remark- 
able precision with which the infantry moved; and, most 



BIOGRAPHY OF COLONEL CHARLES S. TODD. IO3 

of all, by the celerity with which the flying artillery was 
managed. It was this new arm, followed by the combina- 
tions and rapid concentrations of an adept, which gave to 
Napoleon his superiority over the tactics of the great 
Frederick ; and although, in a defensive war, it may not be 
so valuable to us, the plains of Texas, Oregon, California, 
or Mexico, may present a theatre for its successful applica- 
tion in our service. The corps of Cossacks, both of the 
Don and of the Black Sea, so formidable to the retreating 
Frencli in the invasion of 1812, as well as a small battalion 
of Circassians, excited a peculiar interest from their skilful 
use of the lance b}- the one, and the adroit horsemanship 
and practised gunnery of the other at half speed, so like 
the mounted riflemen of our great Western Valley. It 
struck me as a very judicious plan, to attach a squadron of 
lancers to each park of flying artillery, and the whole scene 
afforded evidence of the vast superiority which discipline 
gives over mere valor, in all cases where the local position 
and natural defences do not impart to raw troops the con- 
fidence which discipline alone inspires. 

" ' I have pleasure in noticing frequent allusion in the St. 
Petersburg Journal, published under the eye of this Govern- 
ment, to our country as a great maritime power. It is this 
impression which is best calculated to insure a respect for 
our rights ; and perhaps no disposition of the steamer 
Mississippi, and of the Pennsylvania, would be more judicious 
than to show them to the Emperor, whose estimate of our 
capacity, of our power, is chiefly regulated by his conviction 
of our ability to contend for the freedom of the seas, of which 
Great Britain arrogantly assumes to be the mistress. I trust 
you will pardon me for this suggestion upon subjects strictly- 
military and naval ; but when we look at the unauthorized 
efforts of leading European papers to control the action of 
independent American States, we cannot avoid examining 
the means by which all European interference with the 
affairs of the New World shall be rebuked.' 

" The Climate of Russia was to me a subject of much 



I04 BIOGKAPIIV OF COLONEL CHARLES S. TODD. 

misconception, before my arrival in that countr\' ; I found 
the winters to a<rree with my constitution, and mv hcaltli 
throughout was firmer than at any period of nu- life. The 
cold season commences early in October, and often con- 
tinues until the first of May. I crossed the Neva in a car- 
riage, on three-feet ice, more than once in last April. The 
cold is more intense, yet more uniform than with us. The 
average cold from the 1st of November to the 1st of March 
is equal to the coldest week in our winter, while many 
weeks there are twice as cold, ranging from fifteen to 
twenty-five degrees of Reaumur, which is two and one- 
fourth of Fahrenheit. The nights are long, from 4 o'clock 
in the evening to 8 in the morning. The sled is in 
constant use in the winter, and is a cheerful exercise, when 
one is wrapt in furs. The rooms arc admirably heated, so 
that in the coldest weather I slept on a mattress under one 
comforter. This mode of imparting a uniform temperature 
to their rooms is worthy of introduction into our own 
country, especially the northern part of it. The chimney 
is, indeed, an ornamental piece of furniture ; it is made of 
brick, covered with porcelain, has flues, and, when the 
wood has burned to a coal, the mouth below and the flues 
above are closed up, which causes the heat from the bricks 
to spread gradually over the room. Unless the cold is very 
severe, one fire is sufficient for the twenty-four hours ; and, 
by means of a private passage, the ser\ant heats the room 
without the necessity of coming in with the wood — a fact 
which will be appreciated by all neat housekeepers, and by 
those who do not choose their slumbers in the morning to 
be disturbed in the preparations for rendering their bed- 
rooms comfortable, both of which classes of persons I have 
doubtless now the honor of addressing. Sleds and ice 
hills, so peculiar in Russia, are the amusements of the day ; 
while the long nights are occupied with soirees, balls, operas, 
and theatres, and even these engage for a portion of the night 
the attention of the //Aw/// and oflicers of state. I enjoyed the 
exhilarating exercise of being drawn in a Laplander's sled, 



BIOGRAPHY OF COLONEL CHARLES S. TODD. IO5 

with four reindeer, on the ice of the Neva; and I often 
witnessed the small boats, shod with iron like the sleds, 
drawn by the wind in an incredible period of time from 
St. Petersburg to Cronstadt, the great naval port. The sum- 
mer of Russia is as remarkable as the winter; the influence 
of the spring being scarcely felt. Not a bud is seen before 
the 1st of May, and the full-blown leaf is found on the 1st of 
June. The growth of vegetables is remarkably rapid, ren- 
dering them tender. The nights are the reverse of those in 
winter. You may read at midnight ; and the people walk 
the streets until ii; at i, dawn commences, and the sun 
is up at 2, having set the previous evening at 9. For six 
weeks, in midsummer, the heat is oppressive in the sun, 
from II to 3 ; but you sleep under a coverlid, and thus 
find the invigorating effects of which you are denied in the 
region of the tropics. 

" The Nobility of Russia consists of some ten or twelve 
grades ; the highest in rank are the descendants of the 
ancient princes, of the dukedom prior to the Empire, and 
those who are created by the Emperor in consideration of 
eminent public services ; then counts; then an inferior grade 
of princes. All officers of the army who reach the grade 
of colonel are considered as ennobled; but society, as the 
higher circles are called, consists only of the first four or 
five grades. These all receive a liberal education, and many 
of them are permitted to travel into other countries, and 
are distinguished by their polished manners and their intel- 
lectual accomplishments. Many of the nobility have im- 
mense estates, including often ten thousand serfs, with more 
land than they can cultivate. The deference paid to thern 
by the peasantry is more marked than with our republican 
notions we could conceive it to be possible. It will be dif- 
ficult, in the limit allowed to these remarks, to dwell upon 
the manners and customs of the nobility or of the etiquette 
which is so exacting at the Court; but I may be allowed to 
pause a moment on the female character of the wealthier 
classes. These are educated in a liberal style, and man)- of 
14 



I06 BIOGKAl'lIV OF COLONEL CHARLES S. TODD. 

their accomplishments are useful as well as ornamental. 
They have a fine taste for music and embroidery, of which 
latter I have some elegant specimens — a souvenir — in 
return for American books. The children of both sexes 
are taught, from an early period, to observe the most cour- 
teous manner, and a laudable neatness of dress, in which 
they as much deserve to be models to our own children as 
in their remarkable efficiency in the knowledge of modern 
languages. I have often heard the children at the family 
table speak in four languages : French, German, Russian, 
and English, and acquired in the order mentioned. The 
three qualities for which the ladies merit particular notice 
consists in their graceful movements, neat costumes, com- 
bining richness with simplicity, and unaffected manners; in 
all these they excel the most intellectual English, and the 
sprightly though less dignified French, and, I hope I may 
be pardoned for saying that, in these respects, they are in 
advance of our own ladies ; though in freshness of beauty, 
in symmetry of form, intellectual vivacity, and real nobility 
of character, every American, who travels abroad, will ad- 
mit that our own have no superiors in any land. 

" The second class of persons, in Russia, consisting of 
the various grades of merchants, the shopkeepers, anel 
handicraft tradesmen, ha\'e nuun- peculiar qualities; the)' 
adhere, in dress, to the national costume, though in a st)-le 
more European than that of the serf As traders, they are 
astute and enterprising; and Peter well described theiu 
wlien he told the Jews, on entering his lMTi})ire, that they 
were welcome to cheat his subjects il they could. This 
class is making rapid strides in intelligence and in the useful 
qualities of the citizens, and form, with the serls, objects ot 
deep solicitude in the ameliorating measures of the luii- 
peror. The serfs, amounting to fort\- millions, ol which 
fifteen millions belong to the Crown, are objects of great 
interest to the traveller. Up to the middle of the six- 
teenth century there were no slaves in Russia, except a lew 
prisoners of war; and the peasants, or agricultural work- 



BIOGRAPHY OF COLONEL CHARLES S. TODD. I07 

men, the most numerous class of inhabitants in Russia, 
could change their abode once a year, on the 23d of April, 
St. George's day. One of the Czars, or rulers, Boris Goda- 
noff, about the middle of the sixteenth century, decreed that, 
in future, no peasant should have the right of changing his 
master, and should remain forever the resident of the same 
place, so that by selling the landed property the peasants, 
also were sold. The successors of the Czar Boris, up to the 
time of the Emperor Alexander (1800), gave away a large 
quantity of Crown land to the nobility, as a remuneration 
for their services, and transferred the peasants who resided 
on those lands ; thus converting free peasants into serfs, or 
slaves, up to the eighteenth century, when Catharine II. 
declared that they were not slaves, but only vassals or 
peasants attached to the glebe. The Emperor Alexander, 
at his accession to the throne, prohibited the further distri- 
bution of Government lands inhabited by peasants, and in 
18 1 5 undertook the task of liberating the peasants of Russia. 
He persuaded a majority of the proprietors of estates in the 
three western provinces of the Empire, called the Baltic 
provinces, containing two millions of inhabitants, to give 
liberty to their serfs on certain conditions. These were 
discussed by a committee of the proprietors, and apjoroved 
b)- the Emperor. No disturbance grew out of the arrange- 
ment, and in 1823 there remained no slaves in these prov- 
inces. If I had the time, I could describe the process of 
this gradual emancipation ; merely remarking that the lib- 
erated serfs were not allowed to leave those provinces, nor 
to go into the interior provinces where slavery still exists. 
In the last twenty years the Emperor Nicholas has enacted 
several laws securing privileges to the serfs in the remain- 
ing provinces of Russia, such as that no serf could be sold 
separately from his family, nor the family from the estate, 
nor that the proprietor should require of the serf more than 
three days labor in the week. Half of the whole number 
of serfs do not work on the land of their proprietors, but 
pay him a certain sum, and receive from him a portion of 



lOS LIOGRArilV OF COLONEL CHARLES S. TODD. 

land. Many peasants buy their own time, and are engaged 
as artisans or shopkeepers in the various towns. 

"The first impression of admiration that strikes tlie trav- 
eller, on entering St. Petersburg, is directed to the deep, 
clear river, noble quarries of granite with iron railings, splen- 
did streets, magnificent palaces, and the hundred churches 
with lofty spires and gilded domes ; and he then turns 
with astonishment from these monuments of civilization, to 
look at the people who have reared them — serfs, with their 
long beards, clad in sheep-skin coats with the wool inside. 
The resources of Russia are of vast extent; independently 
of the productions of her soil and of her workshops, Szc, 
she has great mineral wealth; gold, platina, copper, and 
iron abound in greater quantities than in any other portion 
of Europe, if not of the globe, tliough no mines of coal 
are to be found. The consumption of this article, at St. 
Petersburg, is supplied as ballast in the ships, and is as 
cheap as at New Castle. In her geographical position so 
compact ; in her military capacities, in her warlike char- 
acter, and her vast energies, concentrated by the genius of 
one mind, Russia may be regarded as the first Northern 
power in P^urope, if not the equal of any on the Continent. 
Like our own beloved land, she is the child of the eigh- 
teenth centur}'. In the last one hundred years she has 
advanced as rapidly as her neighbors in all that constitutes 
the strength of a State, if we except the results which flow 
only from the diffusion of intelligence among the masses. 
Like our own country, she is formidable in her offensive, as 
well as defensive, attitude : she by her isolated position and 
gigantic army ; we by our extended coast and efficient ma- 
rine. Under a proper system of culture, she, like the United 
States, possesses ample means for feeding her own people, 
and of contributing to the wants of other nations, — in all 
substantial respects, the two powers are the most indepen- 
dent on the globe. They have no conflicting points of con- 
tact ; they are destined to be the best neighbors, because 
they are so far off. The power of steam is working wonders 



BIOGRAPHY OF COLONEL CHARLES S. TODD. ICQ 

in both ; railroads will give them permanent tranquillity, for 
in the concentrated means of war are found the surest guar- 
antees of peace. The capacity which their internal facili- 
ties afford for precipitating a large military force from the 
interior to the frontier will preserve both from invasion ; 
while, in Russia, the vast railroad contemplated by the Em- 
peror, for uniting the ]5altic with the Black Sea and the 
Caspian, will give him the power to invade the contiguous 
nations at the same time his standing army, permitted from 
this power of sudden concentration to be reduced in num- 
bers and expense, is engaged in preserving the public peace 
at home. With this interesting nation we have always 
maintained a friendly intercourse. It is a sublime spectacle, 
worthy the contemplation of other Powers, to see two great 
nations, the most extensive in territory and resources, in the 
Old and in the New World, always living in peace. As to 
them, the Temple of Janus has been always shut; may it 
never be opened ! And may I not renew to you an expression 
of the sentiment in which, with the independence and cour- 
tesy of a Kentuckian, I indulged in my last interview with 
the Emperor, that the day might soon arrive when the 
power of the United States and Russia, by sea and by 
land, should be such as to command all the nations of the 
earth to be at peace. 

" I have only a moment to allude to the Government and 
Administration, and seize the occasion to introduce reflec- 
tions of a sagacious and accomplished American, recently 
at St. Petersburg. ' The will of the Emperor embraces the 
executive, legislative, and judicial power. He is the supreme 
judge, the commander of the armies, the head of the 
Church. The Senate consists of many worthy men, dis- 
tinguished by their learning, or the services they have 
rendered the State. They are appointed by his Majesty, 
and by his consent or command they ratify treaties, receive 
petitions, etc. ; they have no authority, except as wise and 
prudent counsellors. The internal and external interests 
of the Empire are regulated and superintended by various 



no BIOGRAPHY OF COLONEL CHARLES S.TODD. 

departments, over which the Emperor appoints a Minister. 
The Russian Territory is divided into many governments, 
superintending the ecclesiastical matters, education, ways, 
and communications, civil or secret, and military police, 
etc., dependent on the chief department at St. Petersburg. 
The police master of a village, town, or district, is the 
judge and jury in almost all kinds of proceedings; he is a 
very powerful individual, and much respected. Imagine, 
if you can, our President, the supreme ruler of the six-and- 
twenty States of the Union, the governors of the States 
acting as his deputies, waiting for his commands, and you 
have almost a daguerreotype illustration of the whole gov- 
ernmental apparatus of the Czar. With the imperfection 
of such a machine, the wonder is how it is kept in motion, 
and how it effects so much. The merchants — the great 
merchants of the large commercial cities — have a resort, 
in civil cases, by permission of the government, to ref- 
erees ; and an appeal may be had thence to the minister of 
the department of commerce, that is, in truth, to the Em- 
peror.' 

"It would appear then, from this graphic description, 
that the Emperor is the beginning and the ending of 
all things in his dominions. And what shall I say of 
this remarkable personage, who unites in his appearance 
and character the dignity and intellectual developments 
of our first Governor, and the symmetry and personal 
beauty of Benjamin Howard ? and what more could I say 
of him, than that he wouUi have been selected, from his 
commanding presence and address, to be the leader of the 
choicest sons of Kentucky who have ever gone forth from 
her bosom to advance the national renown ! He onl\- 
needs to have mingled in the eventful scenes encountered 
by Louis Philippe, and to have suffered a similar adversity, 
to place him at the head of the sovereigns of Europe in the 
great qualities of intellectual energy, accomplished address, 
and sagacious statesmanship. It should not be a matter of 
wonder, that a self-willed monarch, with absolute power, 



BIOGRArHY OF COLONEL CHARLES S. TODD. I I I 

should be sometimes capricious, and even tyrannical ; the 
infirmities of human nature would render this probable, and 
the momentous interests, domestic and foreign, of a great 
Empire claiming his attention, would doubtless suffer many 
acts of injustice, oppression, and cruelty, to be perpetrated 
by his subordinates of which he would be ignorant. It is 
sufficient for other nations to know, that he is laboring to 
carry out the plans of Peter, and that he has succeeded in 
advancing his peasantry to a higher civilization than that 
attained by the same class in England under Henry the 
Eighth. In the broad Catholic sense of patriotism, he stands 
out the great man of his country, devoting his energies to 
the preservation of the nationality of his people ; and what- 
ever we may think of a government which is the antipode 
of our own, it is not to be denied that his death, in the 
present condition of Russia, would be a great national cal- 
amity. But we are not permitted to estimate the patriotism 
of the rulers of other countries by our own standard. In 
the Indian sense of the term, Tecumseh was a patriot; he 
devoted his great energies to the preservation of the dis- 
tinctive character, and what he deemed to be the rights of 
the Northwestern tribes. During an interview with General 
Harrison, previous to the war, he referred, with great elo- 
quence, to the plan which the United States had adopted 
of purchasing lands from the individual tribes, and which 
he regarded as a mighty river about to overflow his people, 
avowing that his own plan of a confederacy of the tribes not 
to suffer individual tribes to sell, was the dam he was erect- 
ing to arrest the progress of the flood. Addressing the 
General, he said: ' If your Great Father, who sits beyond 
the mountains and drinks his wine, shall persevere in this 
system, you and I will have to fight it out.' And nobly did 
he redeem his pledge : at the memorable victory of the 
Thames he sealed with his blood his devotion to his na- 
tions, and, whenever the history of this continent shall be 
fully written, Tecumseh will be described as possessing the 
management of Philip, the military genius of Pontiac, and 



I I 2 BIOGRAPHY OF COLONEL CHARLES S. TODD. 

the valor and eloquence of Buchonghelass, who, upon the 
occasion of holding a treaty with General George Rogers 
Clarke, the Hannibal of the West, and two other commis- 
sioners, entered the Council House, and paying no attention 
to the latter, advanced to General Clarke and thanked the 
Great Spirit that he had that day brought together two 
such great warriors as Buchonghelass and General Clarke. 

" One word as to the character of the Secret Police, 
whose sagacity will compare with the days of Napoleon. 
Two anecdotes, occurring during my residence, may suf- 
fice. An American merchant, son of a venerable mer- 
chant of Philadelphia, came to St. Petersburg, and on 
presenting himself, according to the custom, at the office 
of the Minister of Police, was informed that fourteen vears 
ago he had visited St. Petersburg, and that his objects were 
so and so. Says the Minister, ' Will \-ou have the kindness 
to state what are your objects in the present visit? ' Uj^on 
another occasion, a Frenchman presented himself at the 
office. The Minister instantly handed him a passport to 
the frontier. The Frenchman was astonished, and asked 
why he could not be permitted to remain. The Minister 
said: 'You were born in such a \illage in France; you 
have lived in such and such places; and you have killed 
eight men in duels. We want no such person here: take 
this passport, and allow me to recommend you never to 
attempt again to enter Russia.' What a noble examjile 
does this policy present for the imitation of other na- 
tions! " 

An effort was made in the Whig- State Convention 
of 184810 secure to Colonel Todd the nomination 
h)r i^overnor of Kentucky. He was not mi.xetl up 
with the cliques in tliat i)arty. known as Letcher and 
Owsley cliques. He was a favorite witli tlie most 
prominent men of both wim^s of the party, 

Pnii Mr. Graves, of the Owsley clique, and Di.xon 



BIOGRAPHY OF COLONEL CHARLES S.TODD. II3 

of the Letcher clique, had long been aspirants for 
the position. They had energ-y and ambition. They 
carried a large majority of the counties in primary 
assemblies. And although either would have pre- 
ferred Colonel Todd to his rival, there was such a 
spirit between them that it appeared that they would 
contend for the ascendancy in the Convention. 

Colonel Todd supposed that he would be defeated 
on the second ballot. In this state of affairs, he ad- 
dressed a note to the Convention, withdrawing his 
name from the contest in order to secure unanimity 
in the ranks of the party. This movement led to 
the immediate nomination of Mr. Crittenden, which 
induced the other candidates to retire from the con- 
test. Quite a number of distinouished politicians 
afterwards expressed the opinion that Colonel Todd 
would have received a much stronger support than 
that eiven to Mr. Crittenden. 

In 1850 Colonel Todd, in company with General 
Robert B. Campbell and Oliver P. Temple, accepted 
a mission tendered them by the United States Gov- 
ernment, to treat with the Indian tribes on the border 
of the United States and Mexico. I find in the 
National hitelligcncer. of October, 1850, the follow- 
ing reference to these gentlemen and their mission : 

"Distinguished as have been the services of these gentle- 
men in other higher, but scarcely more responsible trusts, 
the country has an assurance that an important duty of the 
Administration has been ably discharged, especially in pro- 
viding for the fulfilment of one of the difficult stipulations 
of the treaty of peace with Mexico. By an act of the last 
session of Congress, the President was required to appoint 
a commission to obtain statistical information of, and to 



114 13I0GRAP?IY OF COLONEL CHARLES S.TODD. 

form treaties with, the various tribes of Indians on tlie border 
of the United States and Mexico. The importance of this 
trust has not for many years been exceeded, and is without 
precedent but in the plenary power given b\- Mr. Jefferson 
to Governor William II. Harrison, to treat with all the 
tribes of the Northwest. In parting with these gentlemen 
on this distant and perilous service, we cannot but express 
the interest which we, in common with all their friends, feel 
for their success." 

After the mission terminated, Colonel Todd drew 
up the report, from which we make the subjoined 
extracts. The report is not only remarkable for the 
service performed by these gentlemen, but for the 
thorouo^h knowledge they displayed in regard to 
the Indian character. The long experience Colonel 
Todd had in Indian affairs peculiarly fitted him for 
the duties of the Commission. After describing the 
causes of delay at New Orleans, which was aggra- 
vated by the non-arrival of arms they were led to 
believe would meet them on their arrival in that 
citv. the reuort savs : 

" General Campbell remained in Xew Orleans until De- 
cember 8th, waiting the necessary orders from the War 
Department ; the other Commissioners proceeding on 
the 1st of December to Galveston, thence to Austin, the 
seat of Gfovernment of Texas, with a view to a consulta- 
tion with Governor Bell, as suggested in a conversation 
held by the Commissioners with Senator Rusk, of New 
Orleans. 

" We beg leave to refer to our despatch of December 
2 1 St from San Antonio as furnishing an account of the in- 
terview with Senator Rusk and Governor Bell, and of our 
intention to proceed to El Paso and collect the Apaches, 
and of our recommendation as to our future Indian policy 



BIOGRAPHY OF COLONEL CHARLES S. TODD. I I 5 

in Texas. In that despatch we invited the attention of 
the Department to the necessity and importance of an in- 
creased appropriation for our Commission, and a separate 
escort of cavalry with which to penetrate into the interior 
of the country, instead of depending upon the escort accom- 
panying the boundary party. 

"We regretted that we could not reach San Antonio and 
make the necessary preparations to accompany the bound- 
ary party from that point to El Paso on the Rio Grande. 
That Commission had left San Antonio early in November, 
and a reference to the date of our instructions received at 
\\\ashington, and the distance of three thousand miles to 
San Antonio, apart from the delay in that city to equip the 
Commission for a wilderness journey of six hundred and 
fifty miles, will show the utter improbability that we could 
have arrived in time to proceed with that party ; nor, in- 
deed, was it vitally important that we should reach El Paso 
until Spring, from the almost certainty that the boundary 
party would not enter the Rocky Mountains until the milder 
season should appear, — a conjecture which subsequent 
events have reduced to a certainty, inasmuch as it is not 
known that the party had yet penetrated the mountains. 

" It may be proper to state that the position of Secretary 
to the Commission, the only office under our appointment 
whose pay is fixed in our instructions, was conferred, De- 
cember 4th, on Major Robert H. Armstrong, of Tennessee. 
Immediately upon our arrival at San Antonio, Major Bab- 
bit, U. S. Quartermaster at that point, called to inform us 
that he had received instructions to furnish transportation 
for our party to El Paso. As he did not favor us with an 
opportunity to examine his instructions, and having no 
reason to suppose there was any doubt as to their real 
import, we contented ourselves with awaiting his arrange- 
ments on the subject, which he stated would be completed 
by the 8th of January ; and we did not learn until the 6th 
of January, a few days prior to the time fixed for our de- 
parture, that, from a more critical examination of his in- 



I I 6 BIOGRAPHY OF COLONEL CHARLES S. TODD. 

structions, he found his authority to provide transportation 
Avas confined exclusixely to the escort accompanyinc^ us. 
In this exigency, and from a statement which he submitted 
to us as to the enormous expense attending our journey in 
mid-winter as compared with that in a period of grass, we 
determined to suspend our movements, go into camp, and 
await instructions from the Department. The letter of 
Quartermaster Babbit will present a full view of this sub- 
ject, and we request that it may be regarded as a part of 
this report. 

"The decision to remain at San Antonio until the sea- 
son of grass realized a saving of many thousands to the 
public treasury. Subsequent events have confirmed the 
wisdom of that determination. The refusal of Congress to 
increase our appropriation, as well as the reorganization 
of the Indian Bureau, by which our powers to make Indian 
treaties were abrogated, would have placed us in a situation 
truly embarrassing, if we had gone in mid-winter to El Paso, 
and thus have exhausted the existing appropriation. 

" It is competent for Congress to abandon a system at 
one session which it instituted at a previous session, but 
the prudence of our delay at San Antonio is not the less 
apparent from this vacillation in the public council. During 
our necessary detention at San Antonio, it was our wish to 
seize every opportunity of procuring an\' information that 
might be useful to our future operations. With this view. 
Colonel Temple was deputed, early in February, from the 
camp beyond San Antonio to proceed to Fort Martin Scott, 
the military post (the most remote to the Northwest), to be 
present at the time specified in tlic treat}- with Judge Rollins, 
where the Indians were to be reassembled. An unfortunate 
discrepancy between the parties as to the precise da\- tor 
the Council prevented Colonel Temple from meeting the 
Indians as he had anticipated ; they having appeared the 
week before, and then returned to their distant camps. 

" We deemed it important during the delay in making 
preparations for the journey to K\ Paso to open a com- 



riOGRAPIIV OF COLONEL CHARLES S. TODD. I I " 

munication with the Governor of Texas in reference to the 
probable prospect of that State consenting to the establish- 
ment of a separate boundary for the Indians in her limits ; 
and, with that view, addressed a letter, of the 2d of January, 
to Governor Bell, to which, and to our despatch of the 4th 
of January, enclosing it to the Department, we ask to refer 
as a part of the report. The views we have felt it our duty 
to submit to the Department, on this interesting subject, are 
further illustrated in our despatch of the 13th of February, 
and that of the 15th of March, enclosing a memorandum of 
an interview with Governor Bell, — all of which maybe 
regarded as entering into this report. 

" We beg leave also to refer to the despatch of the 4th of 
April, with a memorandum, touching the interview of one of 
the Commissioners of Eagle Pass with Coacohee, or ' Wild 
Cat,' the celebrated Seminole chief, now residing in Mexico." 

The report also makes mention of Colonel Todd 
being- deputed by his colleagues to go to Washing- 
ton for the further views of the Government, while 
the other Commissioners remained in Texas until his 
return. They all, then, repaired to Washington for 
the purpose of surrendering their commissions. The 
report concludes with the following : 

"In the expenditure which we thought the public interest 
demanded, we have included five hundred pounds of the 
new improved meat called the Beef Biscuit, manufactured at 
Galveston, Texas. We suppose, this amount was necessary 
for an expedition originally contemplated to continue two 
years. This discovery we regard as a national benefit, and we 
recommend its use in all military and exploring expeditions. 
In relation to the Indian agencies in Texas, on which our 
instructions require us to report, we have no hesitation in 
suggesting to the Department the policy of recommending to 
Congress the creation of a superintendent of Indian Affairs 
in Texas, in connection with sub-agencies in the present 



Il8 BIOGRAPHY OF COLONEL CHARLES S.TODD. 

plan of several independent agencies. The simple state- 
ment of this policy carries with it the obvious advantages 
of uniform and harmonious action, and is sustained by the 
previous practice of the Government in conducting its 
Indian relations in other sections of our countr}-. The 
objection (which it is hoped may soon be removed) that 
the United States have no authority to regulate Indian 
affairs in Texas, applies as well to the present system of 
Indian agencies as to that we have suggested ; and there 
are considerations connected with Indian affairs in that 
State which peculiarly recommend this policy with the 
frontier from whence the public peace of the settled district 
of Texas and Mexico is constantly exposed to interrup- 
tions and the inhabitants to pillage and murder from roving 
Indians to whom no separate territory has been assigned, 
and over whom, consequently, the intercourse-laws of the 
United States have not been extended. 

" In venturing, therefore, to recommend the establishment 
of a superintendent of Indian affairs, we pre-suppose that it 
is the purpose, at an early day, of the United States, as well 
as of Texas, to enter into suitable arrangements by which 
the Indians shall be induced to remain in a specified boun- 
dary, and their tranquillity so secured as to offer no possible 
pretext for the wars in which they would be exterminated. 
This salutary, philanthropic policy may tend to their civil- 
ization by teaching them to cultivate the soil, and acquire 
individual property, and domesticate themselves, so far at 
least as to become herdsmen instead of living like wander- 
ing Arabs. It is not necessar}-, in this view of the subject, 
to anticipate the condition of things, when the wave of 
colonized population shall approach the specified boundary, 
urging their removal to a more distant frontier. Their 
ultimate fate may be safely confided to the wisdom and 
magnanimity of those who may be called in the next 
generation to preside over the national councils. 

"The present path of duty and honor is plain. Ik^th 
humanity and economy concur in advocating the system 



BIOGRAl'lIV UF COLONEL CHARLES S. TODD. II9 

we have suggested as proper for the guidance of our future 
Indian relations on the borders of the United States and 
Mexico. This system contemplates arrangements by which 
incursions into Mexico, as well as Texas, shall be restrained, 
and the separate territory proposed to be secured in Texas 
lies north of the route usually travelled to El Paso and New 
Mexico. A boundary having this beneficial provision on 
the entire route to the Pacific, will therefore offer induce- 
ments to a cordon of settlements along the borders of the 
United States and Mexico, which, with the military advan- 
tages of a railroad, will supersede the necessity of any con- 
siderable expenditure in the establishment of military posts. 

" In this view of the subject, we regard a railroad, so far 
as its establishment may be within the provision of the 
Constitution, contiguous to the route now in process of 
demarkation, and extending to the Pacific, as possessing 
eminent tendencies to fulfil our treaty stipulations, one of 
the important objects contemplated by our instructions. 
Without any designs to disparage other routes to the Pacific, 
we may be permitted to speak of the great advantages 
which the climate and topography on this route present, for 
the Gila, erroneously estimated at sixteen hundred miles, is 
believed to be, in the opinion of competent officers of the 
Topographical Bureau, not more than twelve hundred; and 
along this route the depressions in the Rocky Mountains 
are pre-eminently advantageous for the construction of a 
railroad, while all the approaches through Texas to El Paso 
on the Rio Grande present the most inviting considerations 
for the great object. 

" It is needless to expatiate upon the value of a railroad 
communication across the continent n'ltJiin oiir oivn borders, 
whether we look at it in a commercial, political, or military 
point of view. As a bond of union between the States on 
the Atlantic and Pacific, its importance cannot be exagger- 
ated ; and, in the event of war with a maritime power, the 
facility which it would afford for the rapid transportation 
and sudden concentration of an armed force, will render our 



I20 BIOGRAPHY OF COLONEL CHARLES S. TODD. 

possessions on the Pacific as impregnable, as the late war 
with Great Britain proved our invincibility along the At- 
lantic, Mississippi, and Lake coasts. 

" In closing this report, and terminating our commission, 
we have the honor to state that we have deposited with the 
proper authorities money and property somewhat less than 
fourteen thousand dollars of the thirty thousand dollars ap- 
propriated by the Act of Congress of the 30th of September, 
1850." 

This is probably the only instance in the history 
of the Government, when any moneys, appropriated 
in this way, have ever been returned to the Treasury. 
It was indeed discreditable to Congress that further 
efforts were not made to secure the invaluable ser- 
vices of the accomplished gentlemen. 

The report is particularly interesting, inasmuch as it 
refers to the construction of a railroad to the Pacific. 

Colonel Todd was amoncf the first of American 
statesmen who advocated and demonstrated the 
practicability of such a road. The difficulties to be 
overcome, at that time, were indeed great ; they were 
ahiiost insurmountable. The enemies of the road 
tlid all they could against it, and proclaimed those 
who were in favor of it to he wiKl and thouohtless 
schemers. It was said that Sierra Nevada was im- 
passable ; that snow and ice were piled from forty to 
sixty feet high ; that there was scarcely room for a 
driver to walk by the side of his mule ; that travellers 
were often lost and frozen to death in the mountains. 
6v:c. Colonel Todd was constantly busy with his pen 
agitating the subject. 

In tlv Report of the United States Board of Engi- 
neers sent out 1)\- the War Department, the plan he 



BIOGRAPIIV OF COLONEL CILVRLES S. TODD. I 2 I 

sugg-ested was the most higlily commended. Almost 
everything he wrote received the attention of the 
leading journalists, the statesmen, and capitalists, of 
the country. The friends of the route through Texas 
to El Paso on the Rio Grande, and the friends of the 
Central route, united their strencrth in Congress, and 
gave a two-thirds vote in favor of it. The measure 
would have certainly passed, had not Texas resolved 
to secede. The bill loaned the credit of the Govern- 
ment to the Central route to the extent of ninety mil- 
lion dollars, and sixty million dollars to the Southern 
route. These loans were to be returned to the 
Government in transportation. 

The war broke out, and raged with uninterrupted 
lury. Millions upon millions had been spent to put 
down the rebellion; but nothing, it would seem, could 
destroy the interest taken in the Pacific railroad even 
then. 

Colonel Todd's observation, in the report quoted 
above, that the construction of the road would induce 
a cordon of setdements along the borders of the 
frontier States, thereby doing away with the neces- 
sity of military outposts, was at that time an argu- 
ment in favor of the road. 

The average cost of a regiment of soldiers is said 
to be more than a million a year ; and, when we con- 
sider the number of troops required to quell the dis- 
position to war on the part of the North American 
Indians, we can see at a glance the force of the 
argument. 

i6 



122 BIOGRAPHY OF COLONEL CHARLES S.TODD. 



CHAPTER IX. 

Colonel Todd prepares a Series of Articles on Texas — Letter from Daniel 
Webster to Colonel Todd — Colonel Todd prepares a Sketch of Tecum- 
seh for \.\\e Louisville Journal — He proposes to write the Early History 
of Kentucky — An Incident in the College Life of Colonel Todd — His 
Confidential Report to the War Department in 1S15. 

DURING Colonel Todd's sojourn in Texas as 
a Commissioner, he prepared tor the press a 
series of articles on the agricultural and mineral 
resources of Texas. Their publication attracted no 
little attention in the South and Southwest. The 
intimate acquaintance he displayed with geological 
and other scientific subjects well merited the com- 
mendation he received. 

Colonel Todd is the author of the best account of 
the battle of the Thames ever published. 

The following beautiful letter from Daniel Webster 
to Colonel Todd shows the esteem in which tliat great 
statesman and orator lield the subject of this nu-moir, 
and the LTreat confidence he had in his judgment and 
integrity : 

"Washington, November 6th, 1S51. 

" Mv l)i:.\i; Sir: I am very much obliy^cd to \'ou for 
your friciuU)' fcciini^s antl the very favorable sentiments 
towards mc, which you are [^leased to express. W'c were 
iiilimately accjuainted former!}-, in tlic days of the good 
PresiiK nt I larrison, who was, 1 know, ymir f.i^t \w\(\ \\\\a\- 
tcrable friend. I shall alwa\-s cherish the highest respect 
for his memory and cliaracter. 

" 1 should be very glad to see you. Nobody can tell, 



BIOGRAPHY OF COLONEL CHARLES S.TODD. I 23 

my dear sir, what times are before us. I tliink that f^ood 
men, and lovers of their country, should stand together, 
and act together. I have the truest confidence in you, both 
as to your fidelity and ability. You are in the vigor of 
life, active, and well known to very many good men and 
true friends of the Government ; and, certainly, you can 
do much good. You need not doubt of my good wishes 
now, and at all times. I repeat that, if not inconvenient, 
I hope }'ou will come this way. 

" Yours truly, Daniel Webster." 

" To Colonel C. S. Todd." 

In 1862 Colonel Todd wrote a very charminor 
sketch, for the Louisville Joiunial, of Tecumseh, the 
great Indian warrior. This article completely settles 
the ve.xed question as to " who killed Tecumseh." 

The manner in which Colonel Todd disposes of 
the claims of the many aspirants to the honor of 
having killed Tecumseh is so clear and pointed, ana 
at the same time so severe and just, that no one, I 
think, who has read the article, would care to open 
the subject for discussion again. 

The account given by the English historian, James, 
is completely overthrown in Colonel Todd's article. 
James ascribed the honor of killing the gifted King 
of the Woods to Colonel Richard M. Johnson, of Ken- 
tucky. We learn from Colonel Todd's article that 
General Harrison was the only officer in the army, 
engaged in the battle, who had ever seen Tecumseh ; 
and that Harrison did not know that Tecumseh was 
killed until some time after the engagement. Colonel 
Todd also says that all accounts of Harrison's recog- 
nizing the body of Tecumseli, and expressing the 
opinion that he fell by the hand of Colonel Johnson, 



124 BIOGRAPHY OF COLONEL CHARLES S.TODD. 

are fabled and cntillcd to no credit whatever. It is 
not known who killed him. That this subject should 
attract so much attention is not at all strani^e, for 
Tecumseh was one of the most remarkable men that 
ever lived. He displayed not only the greatest qual- 
ities of a warrior, but of an orator and a statesman. 
He seemed ever to be actuated by the loftiest am- 
bition. Thouirh his hatred for the whites was severe 
and unmeasured, his mode of warfare was wholly free 
from the brutal cruelty of his race, while his ideas of 
honor were chivalric in every sense ot the word. 
Had he lived, it is not improbable that much would 
have been done toward carrying out the great object 
of Ills life, viz.: that of colk^cting together the scat- 
tered tribes of North America, and establishing an 
Indian monarchy on the continent. 

Colonel Todd, a short time before his death, was 
at work upon a series of articles in reference to the 
Early History of Kentucky. It is to be regretted 
that he did not live to complete them. 

George P. Prentice, of the Louisville Jou)-nal, said, 
when he heard that Colonel Todd was engaged on 
the History of Kentucky: "There is no man in all 
the world so well qualified U)r the task as he. I shall 
await the perusal of Colonel Todd's work with no 
ordinary pleasure." 

An incident happened to Colonel Todd while at 
college, which I will relate. The Hon. John j. Bar- 
bour, of X'irginia, nephew of Governor Harbour ot 
that State, very grossly insulted Colonel Todd. 
Barbour was armed at ihc liinc : bui In almost the 
same instant that \\v gave the insult, Colonel Todd 
turned upon him and thrashed him severeK with his 
walkinLT-caiU'. Soon after this casti^ation, Barbour 



BK^GKAPHV OF COLONEL CHARLES S.TODD. I 25 

sent a challeni^-e to Colonel Tockl, who could not 
accept it, as Bishop Madison was his security in a 
civil process to keep the peace. Colonel Todd, in 
declining- the challenge, explained his reason for so 
dointr ; but stated he would fiorht him as soon as he 
was released from his bond to keep the peace. 
Barbour was afterward a member of Congress from 
Virginia, and nominated General Pierce for the 
Presidency at the Baltimore Convention. 

When Colonel Todd returned from his mission to 
South America, Barbour endeavored to reinstate 
himself in his favor, and wrote a letter to him, in 
1824, to that effect. 1 have the original letter, to- 
gether with a copy of Colonel Todd's reply to it, and 
I see no good reason for not publishing them. The 
following is the correspondence : 

"Washington, April 15th, 1824. 

"Sir: — Juvenile attachments are said to be the most 
lasting which the human heart can cherish. It is equally 
true that juvenile feuds are the most fleeting and transitory. 
What our experience has been in regard to this influence 
should not, I think, at this moment be a matter of inquiry. 
For myself, I say to you candidly and fearlessly that I 
desire to revive the former of these sentiments, and give 
the latter to oblivion. I shall not do you the injustice to 
suspect that this note may be misconstrued. On the con- 
trary, I shall be gratified to learn a reciprocal inclination in 
your breast. 

" I am, Sir, respectfully yours, J. J. Barbour." 

" Brown's Hotel, April i6th, 1S24. 
"Sir — I have been favored by the receipt of your note 
of yesterday, and hasten to assure you of my concurrence 
in the sentiments you have suggested. The unpleasant 
controversy to which you refer was very shortly afterward 
consigned to oblivion. I am not aware that I had then, or 



126 BIOGRAPHY OF COLONEL CHARLES S. TODD. 

at any subsequent period, cause to revive a recollection of it 
It is unnecessary for me to say, that it will give me pleasure 
to unite with you in reviving and promoting a friendly feel- 
ing and intercourse, and with that view I shall be happy to 
see you whenever your convenience may permit. 
" I am, Sir, very respectfully yours, 

"C. S. Todd." 

Circumstances, however, prevented them from re- 
newing' their acquaintance. Barbour called to see 
Todd, but did not find him at home ; and when Todd 
returned the visit, Barbour was absent. 

I must not foreet to make mention of the Con- 
fidential report Colonel Todd made to the War 
Department in 1815. 

The report was forwarded to the board of officers 
selected by the President to arrange the peace, and 
to reduce the nominal amount of the army of fifty 
thousand to ten thousand men. Bv this arranorement 
four-fifths of the officers were to be removed. 

Colonel Todd's report elicited the highest com- 
mendation for its discriminating fairness and impar- 
tiality. General W'infield Scott was President of 
the Board, anil remarked to a party of friends at the 
house of General Preston, that, as General Harrison 
had resigned, and Generals Jackson and Gaines were 
absent, the Board looked to Colonel Todd's report for 
information in regard to the officers in the West, and 
that the Board regarded the report as the most intel- 
ligent and practical of any rendered to the Depart- 
nient, and that they made it the basis of their se- 
lection. 

Colonel Fodd was then only twenty-four vears of 

¥ ^ * 

age. It is worth)' of note that the new Register con- 
tained no name on which he had placed a black mark. 



BIOGRAPHY OF COLONEL CHARLES S. TODD. I 2 7 



CHAPTER X. 

Colonel Todd takes an Active Tart in the Taylor Campaign — His Charac- 
teristics as a Popular Orator — His Opinions of Jefferson and Jackson — 
His Acquaintance with the Presidents — His Admiration of Madison — 
His Accomplishments as a Man of the World — His Moral Character- 
istics — Anecdote of Bernadotte, King of Sweden. 

IN 1848 Colonel Todd took an active part in the 
Presidential contest between General Taylor and 
General Cass. Colonel Todd spoke at nearly all the 
large political meetings in Ohio. He also addressed 
the people at various points in Pennsylvania, New 
York, Massachusetts, and Connecdcut. His finest 
speech was at Lowell, Mass. 1 have never read an 
abler and a more conscientious and painstaking doc- 
ument than his speech at Lowell. It is a thorough 
and a complete elucidation of the polidcal questions 
of the day, as well as a just and noble tribute to the 
distinguished services of General Taylor. It was not 
without its effects in that canvass. General Taylor 
was very proud of it, and said that he did not fear 
the result of the contest when such able speeches 
were made in his behalf. Colonel Todd's arguments 
were always closely considered, and in every way 
calculated to assert truth and to refute falsehood. 
There was no clap-trap nonsense about him; no- 
thing said merely for effect, and his opponents were 
usually so hemmed in by the array of facts he brought 
aeainst them, that there was not the slightest gap 
left open for escape. He was thoroughly versed in 
the history of the country, and was never at a loss 



128 BIOGRAPHY OF COLONEL CHARLES S.TODD. 

in rep^ard to facts and dates of important political 
events, I remember asking- him, on one occasion, 
what he thought of the Jeffersonian Democracy, and 
he said: "I suppose, in speaking of the Jeftersonian 
Democracy, you make a distinction between it and 
the Jackson Democracy? " I was about to say that 
the difference was not ver\- plainly marked, when he 
said: " General Jackson ami Mr. \'an Buren intro- 
duced a new Democratic party, after the old parties, 
the Federal and Democratic, had passed away during 
the administration of Mr. Monroe. From 1798 to 
181 5 a great struggle existed between the old par- 
ties, and it is a singular fact that General Jackson 
recommended to Mr. Monroe to discard politics alto- 
crether in the selection of his Cabinet, and urged him 
to select from both parties. Such was Jackson's own 
practice when he came into power ; for instance, he 
appointed Livingston and McLean, who were strong 
Federalists, and formed a new party of those who 
had voted for him, and called it the Democratic 

party. 

" Jackson and Jefferson," Colonel Todd said, " were 
indeed great leaders, l)ut with altogether different 
principles and temperaments. Jackson liad great 
oenius and a thorough knowledoe of men and things, 
united to an indomitable will, which enabled him. with 
scarcely the ordinary accomplishments ot a gende- 
man, to guide the polic)- of the nation. Jefferson could 
not do more, though he was sjjlendidly educated, anel 
had minified with the greatest scholars and intellects 
of luirope and America, lie IkuI talent for control- 
line' iniblic affairs. He was a strong man, as well as 
a learned man. lie was both a statesman and a 
])hilosoj)her." 



BIOGRAPHY OF COLONEL CHARLES S.TODD. I 29 

I then asked Colonel Todd what he thoiicrht of 
Randall's Life of Jefferson, Colonel Todd said : "It 
is a fine account of Jefferson ; ])ut that author, in pub- 
lishing Jefferson's writings, published too much, for 
Jefferson was of the French school in both religion 
and politics. He loved his country, I believe, with 
unabated ardor, and appears to a splendid advantage 
in many phases of character ; but he will not go down 
to posterity with the pure and unsullied principles of 
Madison, who was at once the ablest and the most 
beautiful of all our public men." 

Colonel Todd once told me that he had seen all 
the American Presidents, with the exception of Wash- 
ington and the elder Adams, ami had an intimate 
personal acquaintance with most of them. He said : 
*T saw Mr. Jefferson on the day he left his office ; I 
being present at the inauguration of Madison, having 
gone to Washington for the purpose of seeing my 
father, who was then one of the Judges of the Su- 
preme Court. My intercourse was very intimate 
with Madison, and Monroe, and John Ouincy Adams, 
and Harrison, and, more or less so, with Tyler, Ta)- 
lor, Fillmore, Pierce, Buchanan, and Lincoln." 

At another time he said : " I have many letters 
from prominent men throughout the country, and 
there is not one among them that is not worthy of 
your attention and perusal. I treasure most the 
letters of Harrison, ^Ir. Clay, General Cass, and Mr. 
Webster. I have a number of Buchanan's letters ; 
but I never like to read them. He was an old 
Federalist, turning to a Jackson Democrat." 

On another occasion, in speaking to me of our 
Presidents, Colonel Todd said : " It is a creditable 
17 



130 BIOGRAPHY OF COLONEL CHARLES S. TODD. 

fact that every one of our Presidents selected one of 
the ablest men in his party for Secretary of State ; 
and this fact has rendered our correspondence with 
foreign countries fully as good as the most distin- 
guished State papers of Great Britain and France, if 
not better." 

I asked him what he thought of the correspond- 
ence he had with some of the distincruished Russian 
statesmen, and he said : " The State papers are 
generally indifferent; those of Count Nesselrode are 
the only ones that will at all compare favorably with 
ours." 

In regard to Jefferson's State papers, he said : 
" Among the papers of George Wythe, of \'irginia. 
who was one of the committee to report on the Decla- 
ration of Independence, was ihe original report of Mr. 
Jefferson, which Judge Wythe says was 'altered for 
the worse ' by the committee. It was arranged, as 
you doubtless know, that oach member should pre- 
pare a paper to be submiut-d to a sub-committee, or 
two, for consideration and report. Mr. Jetierson, 
being the first-named upon the committee, was called 
upon first, and, after his paper was read, the other 
gentlemen declined to read theirs, and the sub-com- 
mittee accepted Mr. Jefferson's. This was, of course. 
Jefferson's ablest State paper, if not the greatest 
paper ever written. His Inaugural Address is also 
a masterpiece of composition." 

In person, Colonel Todd was rather above than 
below the medium heiLrht, and was stoull\- and com- 
pactly built. His complexion was fair, and his eyes 
were of a dark hazel, and of a singular brilliancy ot 
expression. His bearing ant! manners were dignified 
and elegant in tlie exirrine. He was a thorouirh 



BIOGRArHY OF COLONEL CHARLES S. TODD. I3I 

gentleman of the old school. No prince or courtier 
ever transcended liini in politeness. He had one of 
the clearest and richest and most musical voices I 
ever heard. He was altogether the best conversa- 
tionist with whom I have ever been thrown in contact. 
He was a model of a drawing-room companion. He 
knew how to show, to both gentlemen and ladies, 
those little attentions which come only from gentle 
blood and good breeding. He dearly loved children ; 
he would take them for hours at a time on his knee, 
and listen to their prattle with as much attention ap- 
parendy as he would listen to the wisdom of a phi- 
losopher ; he had always a welcoming smile to the 
little ones who entered his room, and, when engaged 
in wridng, he would cheerfully lay aside his work and 
join in a romp, or play, with them. He believed that 
the only happiness in the world consisted in doing 
good, and he did good for others all the days of his 
life. He was ever ready to forget and forgive those 
who had wronged him ; he could not be otherwise 
than just and true and noble, for he was himself a 
living and an essential truth. Heaven was kindly to 
him to the last, and ever kept his heart full of pure 
and sweet and gende emotions. It was a common 
saying among his friends that he never grew old ; and, 
indeed, I have never known any one who seemed to 
preserve to such an advanced asfe the vicror and 
freshness of young manhood. When nearly eighty 
years of age, he did not look to me more than fifty ; 
and when fifty years of age, he would readily have 
passed for a man of thirty. I will relate an instance, 
to confirm what I have said of his youthful appearance. 
On one occasion, when he was in Europe, he was 
presented by the Minister of Foreign Affairs to 



132 BIOGRAPHY OF COLONEL CHARLES S.TODD. 

Bernadotte, king of Sweden. The king hesitated to 
address him, as he appeared to be so much younger 
than he expected. Bernadotte viewed him for a mo- 
ment as if examining a recruit, but soon extended 
his hand, and said, in French : " Pardon me, sir ; the 
gendeman the pleasure of whose call I was expecting 
I did not think to be younger than fifty or fifty-five 
years of age ; and you, sir, do not look to be more 
than thirty, or thirty-five at most." After a pleasant 
exchange of compliments, the king proposed to sit 
on the sofa — a distinction, I believe, not often con- 
ferred at state presentadons. Bernadotte spoke ot 
having been selected by Napoleon to be Governor- 
General of Louisiana ; but said the transfer of that 
province prevented him from acting in that capacity. 
" I examined," he continued, "the adjacent States, and 
am cdad to see that the Kentuckians, who were to be 
my neighbors, have effected the improvements I con- 
templated." 

Colonel Todd was much pleased with this refer- 
ence to Kentucky. The king, then, asked about 
Mr. Monroe, and said that he had seen him in Paris. 
Bernadotte said, in this interview: " Mr. Monroe, I 
believe, appointed you minister to Colombia ? " and, 
on beine assured that he had, Bernadotte continued: 
" 1 have always been interested in South America, 
and will never cease to regret that their republics 
have not the stability of the United States." 

In the conversation, which was prolonged for some 
time, the American Minister spoke of Louisiana 
formine one of the claims of the American Govern- 
ment to Oregon. The king said he hoi)ed that Great 
Britain and the Iniud States would not go to war 
about it. 



BIOGRAPHY OF COLONEL CHARLES S.TODD. 1 33 



CHAPTER XI. 

Colonel Todd's Embarrassed Fortunes — His Personal Resemblance to Louis 
Philippe — Anecdote of that Monarch — Colonel Todd's Zeal for llie Pre- 
servation of the Union — His Claim to a High Military Appointment in 
the Civil War acknowledged but not discharged — Evil Effects of Con- 
ferring Military Appointments on Civilians — Colonel Todd's Military 
Talents — He severs his Connection with the Gazette. 



P 



ERHAPS I ought not to forget to mention the 



great and successful efforts Colonel Todd made 
in treeing himself from his embarrassed fortunes, in 
early life, from the effects of a committal with a friend 
in trade, who died in the first year. He was called 
to manage a business for which he was not edu- 
cated ; and, from the sudden revulsion of the dmes, 
by which real estate depreciated fifty to seventy-five 
per cent., he had to contend with an enormous debt 
for more than thirty years. He could have avoided 
it by taking the benefit of the Bankrupt law, but he 
resolved, even at the sacrifice of his domestic com- 
fort, to go to the ends of the earth, if necessary, to 
become a free man. In this struijcrle, as in all other 
efforts, he was well sustained by the excellent sense 
and untiring energy of his devoted wife. 

Colonel Todd, it is said, bore a strong personal 
likeness to Louis Philippe, king of France. I never 
saw the latter, and am, of course, unable to tell 
whether the resemblance was marked or not. I 
have heard, however, a story of Colonel Todd being 
taken for Louis Philippe as he was coming out of a 
theatre in Paris, where Rachel had been playing. 



I 34 BIOGRAPHY OF COLONEL CHARLES S. TODD. 

Some persons had seen Colonel Todd in the theatre, 
and taking him tor the ^mg, started the story that 
the king was there in disguise. Speaking of Louis 
Philippe reminds me of something Colonel Todd said 
about him. " I saw Louis Philippe," said the Colonel, 
" once or twice while in Europe, and I do not think 
that I have ever met a man of such a remarkable 
memory as he. Louis Philippe had been to this coun- 
try, and seemed to remember everything he saw. 
On a visit to Lexington, Ky., he met a Miss Polly 
Todd, a belle and heiress of that place, and when I 
saw him in Europe, he inquired about her, and 
showed me how she used her fan, and described the 
quick and lively movement of her countenance. He 
also asked me about his landlord, Thomas, and about 
Bush, the hotel-keeper at Frankfort, Ky. Louis 
Philippe, in the same interview, spoke of the horrible 
taste of the salt and sulphur of the Blue Lick water, 
and said that the worst evil he wished his enemies 
was that they might be compelled to drink it." 

When the war for the maintenance of the Union 
began. Colonel Todd was in Texas, and he hastened 
to Washington and offered his services to the coun- 
try. The Administration, for some reason, did not 
give him an appointment. The Secretary of War 
said that he ought to have nothing less tlian a major- 
generalship ; but he assigned as a reason tor not 
giving the ai)pointment, that the arrangement by 
which .Secretary Cameron was sent to Russia, and 
the Hon. C. M. Clay given a major-generalshii). had 
tilled the quota of Kentucky. This treatment of 
Colonel Todd cannot well be overlooked. General 
Sherman said thai he should be glad to serve under 



BIOGRArHV OF COLONEL CHARLES S. ToDD. 1 35 

him ; and Col. O'Fallon, himself a gallant officer of 
the war of 1812, distinguished for gallantry at Tip- 
pecanoe, Fort Meigs, and at the battle of the Thames, 
earnestly and eloquently urged the Secretary to give 
some sort of position to Colonel Todd, by which the 
country could derive advantages from his military 
experience, &c. ; but the Secretary had taken his 
stand, and his decision was as irreversible as the laws 
of the Medes and Persians. The country learned too 
late the folly of appointing civilians and inexperienced 
soldiers to high military positions. It was one of the 
great mistakes with which the war beijan, and it was 
kept up long after experience had shown how dis- 
astrous was its operation. Undoubtedly, it involved 
a terrible cost to the nation both in money and in 
life ; it protracted the war, and for years rendered 
the result doubtful ; it brought upon us nearly all of 
our defeats. If the absurd military ambition of poli- 
ticians had been repressed or withstood ; if aspiring 
civilians, who never set a squadron in the field, had 
not, by unworthy influences upon public men too 
much subject to such influences, procured appoint- 
ments to positions in which they weakly dreamed of 
hewing their way to the Presidency with their swords ; 
if men educated to war, and experienced in war, had 
been as fully relied on as they should have been, and 
in any other country would have been, to conduct the 
war, — the work which extended with constantly 
varying fortunes through nearly four years, would, 
in all probability, have been brought to a triumphant 
close in two ; and our country would now be enjoy- 
inq- all the blessinors that a beni^rnant heaven could 
bestow upon a grateful earth. 



136 BIOGRAPHY OF COLONEL CHARLES S. TODD. 

None who knew Colonel Todd can doubt diat, in 
die war of the rebellion, he would, with fair oppor- 
tunities, have achieved much for his country. His 
genius, his temperament, his deportment, his habits 
of thought, were decidedly and essentially military. 
He lacketl no one of the qualities of a great com- 
mander — he possessed them all in an eminent degree. 
As kni'ditlv as any crusader that ever fouijht in 
Palestine, he was calm amid deadliest perils when 
calmness was needed, and as impetuous as a storm 
when impetuosity was demanded. In the held, he 
would never have failed in the fertility of his resources, 
or in the clearness, rapidity, and force of his strategic 
combinations. His great military powers improved 
by long and arduous service through all his life, and 
were disciplined by thoughtlul and severe study. 
All the military authorities were familiar to him, and 
probably there is no volume upon the art of war that 
he would not have rendered more valuable by his 
comments. 

Colonel Todd, in his civil and military service, 
adorned both, and he achieved victories in both. 
When he departed froni among us, he probably did 
not leave a single peer behind. 

In June, 1867, Colontl Todd, in a letter to me, 
thus refers to his proposed volume on the historx" o( 
Kentucky : 

" Mv Dear Sir : — Yesterday I prepared an introduction 
to the 'Sketches in the l''arly Ilistor}' of Kentucky,' which 
I shall retain until 1 am able to prepare the first three or 
four cha[)ters. Some of m\' friends here sa\- that the 
Gazette is the best agricultural paper in the State. Let us 



BIOGRAPHY OF COLONEL CHARLES S. TODD. I 3 7 

make it what it ought to be. Address mc at Shelbyville, 
Ky., until Saturday. 

"Yours very truly, C. S. Todd." 

A few weeks after I received this letter, Colonel 
Todd notified me that he intended to resign his posi- 
tion on the Gazette, on account of his being compelled 
to be absent so much from the city. 

In a few weeks after Colonel Todd's resignation, 
I also severed my connection with the paper. The 
old association was broken up. I had no longer a 
staff to lean upon, and my work became neither 
pleasant nor profitable to me. 



CHAPTER XII. 

Colonel Todd's Friendship for the Author— His Opinion of Actors and 
Acting — His Exalted Estimate of the Character of Dr. Theodore S. 
Bell — A Letter to the Author — Colonel Todd's Address before the 
Perry Monument Association — Friendship between Colonel Todd and 
the Hon. J. Scott Harrison. 

COLONEL TODD enjoyed excellent health up 
to the time of his last Illness. He took a 
deep interest in my literary career, and always com- 
plimented me by asking my opinion of his own articles. 
When absent from Louisville he wrote me almost 
every week. I give below an extract from a letter, 
dated May i8th, 1868: "We had a pleasant trip 

on the steamer to New Orleans. Mr. was a 

passenger, and met me with great cordiality, and 

tried to talk to me about his paper, and asked me il 
18 . 



138 mOGRAPiJy OF COLONEL CHARLES S. TODD. 



I knew the present editor ; but I waived the whole 
subject. I wish my business arrangements would 
allow me to see Mr. Draper, the historian, at your 
house. Remember me kindly to him, and your poet 
wife, who will g-reatly enjoy his company." 

In February, 1869, he wrote: "I am orratified by 
the opinion you express as to General Grant. He 
will make the best President we have had since the 
days of Washington. I think \ou ought to hesitate 
long before you invest money in a newspaper. I 
am glad you have such confidence in Dr. Gross, of 
Philadelphia. I wish for you the very best results 
from his treatment. I trust Mr. Prentice is well; his 
verses to sweet Virgiline are exquisitely beautiful. 
By the way, I should like you to read Mr. Maxwell's 
book entided 'The Czar — His Court and People.' 
It contains an account, also, of Norway and S.veden, 
which he visited in 1844. You ask me what I think 
of Prescott. You know my opiniDn of Mr. Motley; 
and I am at a loss to tell which is the greatt r of the 
two." 

A few weeks later he wrote : " I have just reael 
your article on Mrs. Prentice. She is credited with 
higher accomplishments than I thought she pos- 
sessed. Her father was a very able advocate. I saw 
Mrs. Prentice a very short time after her marriage, 
and I thought her very beautiful." 

"I am llaltered," he wrote me. still later ''with 
your opinion of my brief article on Jackson'.' i-'.attle 
Grountl. 1 have a very interesting letter fvjm Dr. 
Usher Parsons, Perry's surgeon, eighty >'(ars old, 
thanking me for some military sketches I r.ent him at 
Providence, 1\. 1. I will IjrinL;' it with me when I 
come to Louisxille." 



BIOGRAPHY OF COLONEL CHARLES S. TODD. 1 39 

In Speaking of actors and acting, Colonel Todd said : 
"I do not go to the theatre; but I take a great interest 
in the drama, and often find myself reading even the 
gossip about the players, that have been well called 
the ' abstract and brief chroniclers of the time.' " 
In a postscript to this letter he added : " Do not think 
I have written the above for an excuse to praise your 
article on Booth's lago, which, by the way, is the best 
thing I have seen from your pen ; but, to tell you 
candidly, I have always taken an interest in such 
thinofs." 

Of Dr. T. S. Bell he said : " I have always, though 
personally unknown to Dr. Bell, cherished the most 
exalted estimate of his character." 

The following letter I print entire, as it shows the 
pains Colonel Todd took in preparing his essay on the 
Battle of the Thames, to which I have before referred : 

" OwENSBOROUGH, 6th December, '67. 

"Accept my thanks for your kind letter of the 4th instant; 
and while I am greatly flattered by your opinion of the 
second number of the Battle of the Thames, I had hoped 
the first number was acceptable, — please to excuse my jeal- 
ousy. The third number is postponed until next week, by 
a part of the manuscript being misplaced in the office. It 
consists chiefly of an extract of General Harrison's official 
letter as to the conduct of his officers and men; a criticism 
by Major AVood ; Mr. Madison's report to Congress, and 
their vote of thanks, and medals, &c., with a neat com- 
mentary by Ritchie, of the Riclinwnd Enquirer. I hope it 
may meet your expectations, and that, as a zvliolc, the article 
will command the attention of the descendants of the dis- 
interested patriots on that great occasion. 

" I have taken occasion to dwell on the merits of Major 
Wood, who was breveted lieutenant -colonel for gallantry 



140 BIOGRAPHY OF COLONEL CHARLES S. TODD. 

in the Battle of Lundy's Lane, 25th July, 18 14; and General 
Brown did himself great honor in reporting to the Gov- 
ernment that he owed the safety of his army to Colonels 
IVIcKee and Wood more than to any other officers in his 
army. My notice of his heroic career is but a feeble ex- 
pression of my gratitude to him for once saving my life." 

In September, 1864, Colonel Todd was invited to 
deliver the Annual Address before the Perry Monu- 
ment Association, composed of the surxiving- soldiers 
of the war of 181 2, at Put-in-Bay Island, on the vic- 
tory of Lake Erie, September, 181 3. This address 
w^as the best public speech he ever made. The fol- 
lowing is the concluding paragraph. 

"And now, venerated friends, let us rejoice that we have 
been permitted once more to celebrate the most memorable 
event in the heroic period of the country, the second war 
of Independence, which aided essentially in making us a 
commanding power among the nations of the earth. It 
developed our resources in agriculture, in internal commu- 
nication, in minerals (especially of iron and coal so neces- 
sary to a manufacturing people), in a commerce whitening 
every sea. The generations which have grown up since 
that war should know that the war of the Revolution led 
to separation from the mother countr\', while the war of 
1 8 12 was a war for our nationality. Dr. Franklin said that 
the war of the colonies was a revolution, but the war of 
real independence was yet to come. The prophecy of the 
great philosopher and statesman was fulfilled in our suc- 
cessful struggle in iS 12-15." 

About the time Colonel Todd elclivered this ad- 
dress, he wrote me : " I have received the enclosed 
beautiful letter from my Iriend, Mr. Yeaman. the 
minister to Denmark. In it you will see how Bis- 



BIOGRAPHY OF COLONEL CHARLES S. TODD. I4I 

marck speaks of his old schoolmate. Give my regards 
to our excellent friend. Dr. Pxdl, by whom I shall stand 
in every emergency. 1 have read his reply to Gail- 
lard. It is a masterpiece of criticism." 

In (October, 1869, he wrote : " I wish that you would 
write something about the Hon. J. Scott Harrison. 
He is the only surviving son of General Harrison, 
and he ought to have charge and possession of the 
grounds and remains for a monument. I am anxious 
to hear from Mr. Motley." 

The warmest feelings of personal friendship existed 
between Colonel Todd and the Hon. J. Scott Harrison. 
Colonel Todd never heard Mr. Harrison's name 
mentioned without saying something in his praise. 
The subjoined extract from a letter written to Col- 
onel Todd shows how Mr. Harrison reciprocated the 
friendly feeling : 

" Colonel C. S. Todd. 

"My Dear Sir: — Your criticisms on the Northwestern 
campaign of the war of 1812 are in generous accord with 
that zealous devotion so often manifested before in the de- 
fence of my father's mihtary reputation, and for which the 
surviving members have ever felt the deepest gratitude. It 
has always been a sense of great regret to me that my 
father did not live long enough after his official exaltation 
to manifest to the nation and the world — in a more 
emphatic way than he ever before had opportunity — his 
high appreciation of the gallantry and services of those 
noble officers and men who served with him in his arduous 
campaign ; and whose valuable services have never yet 
been fully appreciated, either by Congress or the American 
people. I need not say, my dear sir, that (in my father's 
estimation) yoii stood pre-eminently distinguished among 
these devoted heroes. J. Scott Harrison." 



14-2 15I0GRAPHY OF COLONEL CHARLES S. TODD. 

When Colonel Todd's name was brouQrht before 
the President as a suitable person to represent the 
country abroad, Mr. Harrison wrote: 

" I cannot close this communication without expressing 
to you the deep anxiety our family feel for the successful 
termination of Colonel Todd's application. My mother, 
particularly, would feel great pleasure in seeing this true 
and devoted friend of her lamented husband placed in a 
situation that would relieve him from embarrassment, and 
feel that he had not been neglected by that countr\' he 
served so early and so faithfully. You may be assured that 
Colonel Todd has a strong hold on the affections of the 
people of the West ; they know him as the youthful but 
gallant soldier of the last war, as well as the confidential 
friend and supporter of their General in the conflict which 
has just ended ; which contest, though less bloody, was 
equally as vindictive and proscriptive toward their favorite 
chief I hope you will pardon this liberty. I was embold- 
ened by your friendly request to communicate my wishes 
freely. 

" With my best wishes for your successful administration 
of the .Government, I remain, with sentiments of high re- 
spect and friendly consideration, 

J. Scott Harrison'." 




BIOGRAniY OF COLONEL CHARLES S. TODD. 1 43 



CHAPTER XIII. 

Letter from the Hon. William C. Rives to Colonel Todd — Colonel Todd 
prepares Several Articles for Dr. Sprague's "National Portrait Gallery" — 
Dr. Sprague's Acknowledgments — Governor Shelby's Pride in Colonel 
Todd— Colonel Todd's Last Illness— His Death. 

THE HON. WILLIAM C. RIVES, of Virginia, 
often consulted Colonel Todd upon state af- 
fairs. I introduce here a letter from Mr. Rives, 
which not only expresses the confidence he felt in 
Colonel Todd's friendship, but in his judgment and 
ability. 

"Castle Hill, i 8th January, 1848. 

" My Dear Sir : — It gives me great pleasure, I assure 
you, to hear from you, as renewing the impressions of an 
early friendship, which I have been most happy to cherish 
through all the vicissitudes of my life. 

" I rejoice with you in the great event which has de- 
livered us from the reign of folly and madness in our public 
councils, and opens to the country a new future bright with 
hope and the promise of a noble destiny. I have not the 
satisfaction, as you doubtless have, of a personal acquaint- 
ance with the illustrious character whom the nation has 
called to its head ; but I have formed the highest opinion 
of his wisdom, moderation, and patriotism ; and I look 
with entire confidence to his administration to restore the 
earlier and better days of the Republic. 

" I am very sensible, my dear sir, of your partiality and 
kindness in wishing to see me again called into the public 
service. I have long considered this a matter of so much 
uncertainty that I have formed no particular wishes on the 
subject, but readily conform to whatever the course of 
events brings along with it, as marking both the path of 
duty and inclination for me. 



144 BIOGRAPHY OF COLONEL CHARLES S. TODD. 

" Wishing you every prosperity both in private and 
public life, and assuring- you of the pleasure it will give 
me at all times to hear from you, 

" I remain, very truly and faithfully, your friend, 

" Chas. S. Todd, Esq. \V. C. Rives." 

In October, of the same year of the date of the 
above letter, Colonel Todd prepared several articles 
for Dr. \V. B. Sprague's great work, entitled "The 
National Portrait Gallery." One of these articles 
consists of a carefully written biographical essay on 
Governor Isaac Shelby. The annexed letter from 
Dr. Sprague expresses his thanks to Colonel Todd 
for the same, and for the interest he had taken in the 
work : 

" Albany, Octoher 19th, 1849. 

"My Dear Colonel: — Your most welcome and grati- 
fying communications have come safely to hand, and I 
cannot tell you how much I feel obliged for them. I'e- 
sides containing beautiful and, I doubt not, faithful sketches 
of your two distinguished friends, they secure to my work 
the influence of your own name, and to me the gratifica- 
tion of being associated with \-ou in what to me is a vcr\- 
favorite enterprise. You will be glad to hear that your 
friend, ex-President Tyler, has also given mc his recollec- 
tions of Bishop Madison, in a \cr\- neat and highly graphic 
communication. Man\- thanks for the Bishop's letter. Jt 
was a precious morsel to my ' omnivorous ' appetite. 

" My faiiiil}- join nic in kindest regards to \-ou, and 
I am. my dear sir, with the highest regard, faithfully and 
gratefully yours, W. B. Spkague." 

Governor Shclb)- was very proud of his son-in- 
law, Colonel Todd, and did not fail to consult him 
about national affairs and the relatie)ns of private life. 
1 have, since writing the above, found an inipublished 



BIOGRAniY OF COLONEL CHARLES S. TODD. 1 45 

letter from Governor Shelby to Colonel Todd, dated 
December 19, 1818. It is expressive of the wise 
judsj;-ment and sagacity of that distinguished military 
chieftain. This letter was written at Traveller's Rest, 
the beautiful home of Governor Shelby. 

" The Secretary of War is much pleased with the Chicka- 
saw treaty ; it is most probable you will soon hear of its 
ratification by the Senate. The Legislature should be 
prepared to act upon it very promptly ; this is certainly 
a favorable moment to settle the question of boundary 
between the two States whose interests seem to invite a 
renewal of the discussions on the subject; it is one that 
has been long at issue, and for fifty years back engrossed 
the minds of the wisest men on the Western waters. If it 
is renewed, in terms of delicacy and conciliation, I have no 
doubt it may be settled, although it is a question on which 
the people of Tennessee are very tenacious, and would be 
easily roused to desperation. If this occasion is passed 
over, it may not be settled in another half-century of years. 
I hope the Assembly will take care to guard the lands 
west of the Tennessee river from all unjust claims ; it is the 
last stake we have to accomplish any great public purpose. 
Those lands, if rightly appropriated, would clear the falls 
of the Ohio ; or cut a canal around them, and make a turn- 
pike way from the gap of Cumberland mountain to Louis- 
ville. If this Assembly suffers that fund to slip through 
their hands, they should be execrated forever and forever." 

A short memoir of Governor Shelby will be found 
in the Appendix to this volume. 

In the last letter Colonel Todd wrote me, he said : 
" I regret that you have incurred the ill-will of 

W and R . The truth is, they look upon 

you as a rising man, and want to put you down. 
You must not be intimidated. Their unkind feelings 
proceed from something out of joint in themselves. 

'9 



146 BIOGRAPHY OF COLONEL CHARLES S. TODD. 

You could not have given them any just cause for 
such treatment. Jealousy is at the bottom of it. If 
1 am spared long- enough, I shall help you make 
them retTret their course." 

I wrote to my dear old friend several times after 
the receipt of the above, but no answer came to 
me. I bet^an to fear that he was ill. I thought of his 
advanced age, and felt that I should never see him 
again in this world. I kne.-w that he expected soon 
to come to Louisville, and was cheered with the hope 
that he did not write because he expected so soon to 
be with me. He left New Orleans for a visit to his 
grand - daughter's at Baton Rouge. The weather 
was so pleasant that he would not listen to the advice 
of one of his children to i)ut on his great-coat, and 
the result was that he took a severe cold, which was 
followed by a severe attack of pneumonia, from which 
he never recovered. 

A few days before his death he called his daughter, 
Mrs. Letitia Carter, wife of Dr. John Carter, of Xew 
Orleans, La., to his bed-side, and asked her to find 
the psalm which says, " Thy rod and thy staff they 
comfort me." She uirned to the chapter containing 
it, and asked him if she should read it. when he said 
that he wished it for a reference only. On the 
Tuesday before he died, he said to his physician : 
"I trust. Doctor, that I shall go quietly;" and then, 
addressing Mrs. Carter, said, " Let me, my i)recious 
child, feel the pressure of your hand when ni\- spirit 
is about to take its tliL-ht." It was then ten o'clock 
in the evening. He continued to grow worse, and. 
while struoivlino- to utter some loving word to those 
around him, his noble spirit took its llight to its 
home beyond the skies. 



APPENDIX. 

Correspondence of Colonel Todd with the Colombian General Santander — 

Memoir of Governor Shelby. 

Bogota, June ist, 1823. 

THE Undersigned, Colonel C. S. Todd, presents his 
most respectful compliments to his Excellency, Gen- 
eral Santander, and begs leave, informally and unofficially, 
as a citizen of the first Republic of the North, animated by 
the most anxious solicitude, to omit no occasion of pro- 
moting a frank and cordial intercourse between Colombia 
and the United States ; and, to avoid every measure cal- 
culated in the slightest degree to interrupt the most perfect 
harmony between them, to submit to a distinguished citizen 
of the first Republic of the South the following statement 
and correspondence, in the firm persuasion that he ad- 
dresses himself to an individual whose character may be 
found in the great qualities of valor in the field, uniform and 
patriotic devotion to the best interests of his country, a 
display of practical wisdom in the civil administration, and 
who, loving " Colombia first and Colombia last," has been 
signalized by the maintenance of feelings of justice and 
impartiality towards all nations. 

The enclosed document. No. i, consists of a translation 
of the Commission granted to the Undersigned by the 
Government of the United States, on the 20th April, 1820, 
of the correspondence, which, by virtue of that instrument 
and his instructions, he had the honor of instituting with 
the authorities of Colombia, from the 2d August, 1820, to 
the 15th February, 1821, and of sundry extracts. These 
papers are communicated now in consequence of the 
Undersigned having lately received information from a 

147 



148 APPENDIX. 

most respectable source that they were not made known 
to the Congress at Cucata, and therefore they may possibly 
be still unknown to his Excellency General Santander. 

The Undersigned has been further informed, on the same 
authority, of the great probability that the discrimination 
in the law of the 25th September, 1821, unfavorable to the 
commerce of the United States, would not have been 
adopted, if the views, acts, and feelings of the Government 
of the United States conveyed in these documents had 
been communicated to that Congress. The Undersigned 
positively states, that his letter of the 2d August, 1820, was 
received by the Government of Angostura in the following 
September; and that his letter of the 25th February, 1821, 
with its enclosures, was delivered prior to the 3d of May, 
and thereafter to General Narino, then at Cucata, and Presi- 
dent of Colombia. He is greatly concerned to be obliged, 
from a sense of duty to the United States, to state his belief 
that the existence of the mission with which he was intrusted 
by his Government, and of this letter of the 15th Februar}', 
1 82 1, was known to the present Secretary of State for 
Foreign Affairs, who was a member of that Congress, and 
one of the projectors and supporters of the particular article 
in the law of the 25th September, not less prejudicial to the 
real interests of Colombia than those of the United States. 
If, as is positively asserted to have been the case, papers 
transmitting intelligence of events and circumstances so 
interesting to the Congress and people of Colombia, were 
withheld by the Executive and the particular department 
charged with foreign affairs, at a period when the false 
representations were industriously circulated to the injury 
of the United States concerning their acts and feelings, 
and whilst a law was enacted imposing a discrimination 
unfavorable to their commerce, His Excellency General 
Santander cannot be surprised that the Undersigned should 
suspect him to be still unadvised of the proceedings as well 
as of the precise import of other transactions to which the 
Undersigned will have occasion presently to refer. 



APPENDIX. 149 

It is respectfully submitted to the enlightened judgment 
and honorable views of his Excellency General Santander, 
to say what would be the impression produced on his 
mind, if, under such circumstances, the Congress of any 
foreign nation were to proceed from unfriendly opinions 
to hostile legislative acts towards Colombia — at a precise 
period when the Executive, or one of its subordinate 
officers, withheld from their knowledge official documents 
that would have removed these unfavorable feelings and 
consequently the law founded on them. In this case, an 
impression generally prevailed among the members of the 
Congress atCucata, that, in the late treaty acquiring posses- 
sion of the Floridas, the United States agreed not to recognize 
the independence of any of the new governments in South 
America; whilst an examination of the letter of the Under- 
sio-ned with its enclosures, dated on the 2d August, 1820, 
would have shown what had been previously published to 
the world, that the Government of the United States, so far 
from acceding to so odious a stipulation, considered it im- 
possible to discuss a proposition so incompatible with their 
honor and independence. 

Deeply as the Undersigned regretted, at the time, the 
necessity which the alarming state of his health imposed 
on him of returning to the United States in February, 1821, 
the knowledge lately acquired of the extraordinary direc- 
tion given to his correspondence, and the numerous bane- 
ful impressions which were then falsely and maliciously 
suggested and permitted respecting the acts and feelings 
of a sister republic, induce him now to lament, that his 
absence afforded an opportunity for the enemies of both 
republics to infuse these prejudices into the minds of the 
members of that Congress ; and if, in the course of his 
present mission, he shall be enabled, by removing the 
effects of misrepresentation, to place the relations of the 
two countries where they should be, on a footing of the 
most intimate and unreserved cordiality, he shall regard 
the effort with the proudest recollection. 



1 50 APPENDIX. 

The Undersigned regrets that any combination of cir- 
cumstances should impose on him the painful necessity of 
appearing to give explanations with regard to the acts and 
views of his Government, whose attitude towards this coun- 
try is so pure and magnanimous ; but the sincere desire he 
cherishes for the preservation of perpetual harmony between 
the two republics requires of him to contribute his efforts 
toward removing the seeds of future collisions between 
them. The conduct of the United States has been open 
to the World, and cannot be misunderstood but through 
the machinations of those whose passions and interests may 
lead them to misrepresent it. With regard to the strug- 
gle for independence in the South, their course has been 
that of deep sympathy in favor of their oppressed brethren ; 
and, although they have not participated directly in the 
war, their system of neutrality has entirely satisfied the 
wishes of the true friends of both countries. The mis- 
representations of this conduct, which have been circulated 
for several years in Colombia, chiefly from the want of 
correct information, will be a sufficient apology for the 
Undersigned in claiming the attention of his Excellency 
General Santander; whilst he briefly reviews the several 
acts and declarations of his government in relation to the 
interesting struggle in South America. He has the honor 
of referring to an extract of the Message of the President 
of the United States in December, 181 1, and the report of 
the committee of that Congress, translations of which are 
herewith enclosed, containing a beautiful and enlightened 
allusion to the interest the Government and people of the 
United States should feel in the welfare of their Southern 
brethren. During that session a very generous and timely 
supply of one hundred thousand dollars, in provisions, was 
voted to relieve the distresses of the people of Venezuela, 
occasioned by the earthquakes of March, 18 12, — a supply 
denied them by the authorities of the adjacent islands. 
The war, which the rights and honor of the United States 
compelled that Congress to declare against the same Power 



APPENDIX. I 5 I 

whose cruelties and oppressions led to the war of the Revo- 
lution, and made them free and independent States, neces- 
sarily engaged the exclusive attention of the Government 
and people of the United States ; and it was not, therefore, to 
be expected that, in the midst of its difficulties, any particular 
notice could be taken of the progress of the South American 
contest. It may be, perhaps, deemed unnecessary here to 
remind his Excellency General Santander of the distin- 
guished reputation acquired by the United States in that 
portentous struggle for the preservation of their liberties ; 
but the Undersigned cannot resist the suggestions of a just 
pride in stating, that every portion of the ci\ ilized world 
has resounded with the imposing and animating facts that 
a handful of Republicans, after a peace of thirty years, tri- 
umphed in a war of less than three years over the veteran 
forces of an empire which claimed dominion in every 
quarter of the globe ; that, though Great l^ritain had all 
the influence of the moral power of the States, with the ex- 
ception of France, composing the present " Holy Alliance," 
aided by that of Spain and Portugal, the United States came 
out of the contest with their rights asserted, their national 
resources developed, and their national character exalted; 
that the sacrifices encountered and the energies success- 
fully displayed promise them a long harvest of peace — the 
natural state and essential policy of all republics ; that, in 
the course of this momentous struggle, that gallant navy, 
which had been contemptuously styled " a few fir-built 
frigates with a piece of striped bunting at the masthead," 
by its daring chivalric deeds, with inferior force, repeatedly 
humbled the pride of the leviathan of the deep, who, after a 
thousand victories over the fleets of Europe, had arrogantly 
assumed to be "mistress of the seas;" that this same 
valorous spirit led to the capture with inferior force of 
whole squadrons on the inland seas which skirt our fron- 
tiers ; that our armies, as if inspired with the energy and 
sublimity of the mighty cataract in their vicinity, had routed 
British veteran troops in open combat at the point of the 



I 5 2 APPENDIX. 

bayonet ; and that, finally, on the plains of New Orleans, a 
few undisciplined freemen, with the impetuosity of the 
floods of their own Mississippi, proudly repelled the bar- 
barian invasion of the " conquerors of the conquerors of 
Europe." It is these moral energies of a free people in a 
just cause which the tyrants of Europe so much dread, and 
the display of which gives us, for the present, the blessings 
of peace. 

The Undersigned begs leave to refer to the enclosed 
translations of extracts of the messages of the President 
of the United States to Congress on the opening of the 
sessions, in December, 1817, 18 18, 18 19, and 1820, and to 
state that, while the Executive Department was evincing 
its lively interest in the course of events in South America 
by these public declarations, and the appointment of the 
Undersigned on the 20th April, 1820, to maintain informally 
commercial and political relations with the Government of 
Colombia, the popular branch of the Legislative Depart- 
ment solemnly avowed, in 1820 and in 1821, its wishes in 
behalf of their struggling brethren, and its readiness to 
unite witli the Executive in instituting witli the new gov- 
ernments in South America all the relations incident to 
free and independent States. It is thus seen, that, long 
before 1822, the applications of the Government of Colom- 
bia, to be practically recognized b)' the United States, had 
been acceded to by the adoption of the public acts and 
declarations just referred to ; and the records of the Supreme 
Court of the United States will show, also, that the flag of 
Buenos Avres and Cartha^ena was recrarded as lec^al, as 
early as 181 5, in consequence of the declarations made by 
the President of the United States that the Government of 
the United States viewed the contest not as a rebellion or 
insurrection, hut as a ci\il war entitling each party to equal 
rights in tluii- ports. .\iul here the I'^ndersigned would 
beg leave most respectful!)' to inquire whether, until the 
last year, the head or supreme authorities of any other 
nation have considered the Government of Colombia to be 



ArrENDix. 153 

of such importance as to induce them, by their public acts 
and declarations, to proclaim to the world the existence of 
a stru<jgle for liberty on this continent? So far from adopt- 
ing a course so magnanimous and so animating to the 
" moral march of its affairs," if it has even been noticed, 
it has been merely to refer to their wishes for the restora- 
tion of the authority of Spain over her rebellious and 
insurgent subjects ; nor can it be doubted that the formal 
recognition by the United States of the Government of 
Colombia, in April, 1822, had a powerful influence in causing 
its flag to be subsequently acknowledged in the ports of 
France, Great Britain, Sweden, Denmark, Holland, and 
Portugal. 

In illustration of the acts and views of the United States 
in 1818 and 1819, the Undersigned encloses, also, extracts 
of the instructions to Commodore Perry, dated in May, 
1819, and made part of his instructions; and, as an evi- 
dence of his frank and confiding disposition in the kind 
feelings of his Excellency General Santander, he com- 
municates an extract of a confidential conversation with 
the President of the United States after the return of the 
Undersigned to the United States in 1821. 

The Undersigned, having no information of an official 
translator being employed in this capital, and to avoid 
the consequences which might flow from possible miscon- 
ceptions of his acts and correspondence, has the honor of 
submitting (in document No. 2) a translation of all the com- 
munications he has addressed to the Secretary of Foreign 
Affairs, since his arrival in this city, on the several subjects 
noticed in his instructions and in the enclosed letter from 
the Secretary of State of the United States. In the note 
of the Undersigned on the 28th May last, his Plxcellency 
General Santander will find a review of the ineffectual 
efforts made by him to procure an adjustment of those 
cases of claims acknowledged to be due or not contro- 
verted. The omission of the Secretary, even to notice these 
applications, renders it improper, under existing circum- 
20 



154 APPENDIX. 

Stances, for the Undersigned to renew the subject to this 
government through that channel. A sense of self-respect, 
as well as of the regard due to the dignity of the United 
States, will not permit him to adopt a measure of such con- 
descension. 

In addressing himself thus informally and unofficially, 
though in direct terms, to his Excellency General Santander, 
the Undersigned is persuaded that he appeals to a common 
friend of North and South America, who will unite with 
him in removing those impressions which, under the influ- 
ence of evil persons equally hostile to the best interests of 
both republics, might eventually ripen into jealousies, and 
disturb the harmony which a thousand interesting con- 
siderations, at this period, make it the duty of both gov- 
ernments to preserve. The Undersigned, in requesting his 
Excellency General Santander to interpose his influence in 
relieving him from the painful dilemma to which the most 
extraordinary and unjustifiable views have reduced his 
official relations with this Government, might appeal to 
the kindred blood, which has flowed in this cause, in the 
sacrifice of Macauley, Donohue, and a hundred other gal- 
lant Americans ; to the enterprising efforts of American 
merchants at the most critical periods of the Revolution, 
among which cases incidentally known to the Undersigned, 
as constituting still unsatisfied claims for upwards of six hun- 
dred thousand dollars, may be estimated the fortunate sup- 
plies lately furnished at Carthagena, at La Guira, in the ac- 
quisition of the ship " Bolivar," proudly regarded as a terror 
to her enemies, and more especially to the timely supply 
made to General Bolivar, at Angostura, in 1819, when, it is 
believed, he had not more than twenty-five muskets, with 
which suppl)' he restored this capital and New Granada to 
the Republic, antl covered himself and all concerned, par- 
ticul;irl\' his l-^,xccllcnc\' General Santander, with immortal 
glor\' in the memorable battle of Ik\\-aca. But the Under- 
signed appeals to still higher motives. He appeals to the 
common principles on which the two Republics have been 



APPENDIX. I 5 5 

erected on the same continent after a similar struggle to 
maintain their sacred rights ; to the common interests 
which, as neighbors, unite them in the bonds of reciprocal 
commerce, and more especially to the political motives 
which make it the imperious duty of all the governments 
on continental America to cultivate the best understanding, 
that they may be prepared to counteract the designs of 
that foul confederacy of kings in Europe, created for the 
purpose of sacrificing the rights of the many to the aggran- 
dizement of the few ; which, prostrating in its march of 
desolation every vestige of civilization and of human rights 
in the Old World, may seek in the New to crush those 
generous displays which have signalized the people of the 
South in their imitation of the "first successful effort of 
democratic rebellion " in the North. 

In presenting himself thus frankly and fully to his 
Excellency General Santander, the Undersigned indulges 
in the pleasing hope that he affords conclusive evidence 
of his deep solicitude for the prosperity of both republics — 
a solicitude, which, in the midst of domestic sacrifices and 
exposures of health, can never be remunerated, has induced 
him to persevere, for the last years, in the most faithful 
efforts to bring the two Governments into a just apprecia- 
tion of their mutual friendship and interests. 

The Undersigned avails himself of the occasion to tender 
assurances of the high respect with which he has the honor 
to be his Excellency's 

Very obedient servant, C. S. Todd. 

His Excellency General Santander. 

June 14, 1823. 

Whilst translations of the preceding statement and docu- 
ments were preparing, the Undersigned received, on the 
5th instant, a letter from the Secretary of Foreign Affairs 
in relation to the claims noticed in his notes of the 12th 
and 28th May. This reply would seem, on first impression, 
to obviate the necessity, in part, of resorting to the measure 



156 APPENDIX. 

deemed indispensable to a right understanding of all the 
circumstances connected with an harmonious intercourse 
between the two countries. But without adverting to the 
possibility that the conversation between the Undersigned 
and his distinguished informants already referred to may 
have hastened the receipt of this reply by the Secretary of 
Foreign Affairs, the Undersigned, on mature consideration, 
has concluded to persevere in his original purpose of pre- 
senting to his Excellency General Santander the statement 
and documents in the precise shape in which they were 
prepared, persuaded, as he is, that his Excellency General 
Santander will concur, in the hope and belief that full, free, 
and frank explanations cannot fail to have the happy 
tendency of removing radically all sources of future mis- 
understanding, and of laying the foundation of the most 
unreserved cordiality in the future intercourse between the 
two republics. To effectuate such a high and permanent 
object, the Undersigned disregards all personal considera- 
tions in the firm conviction that he will be sustained in 
his course by the enlightened and liberal feelings of both 
Governments; and this entire exposition is made, now, 
with the view of advising his Excellency General Santander 
of the crisis to which these circumstances were rapidly pre- 
cipitating the official relations between the two countries ; 
it will thus stand as a beacon to warn the agents of both 
Governments against the baneful consequences likely to 
flow from a similar controvers)'. In this gratifying hope, 
and that this statement may be reviewed in the same spirit 
of liberal friendship in which it is transmitted, the Under- 
signed dismisses the subject by forwarding a translation of 
his reply of this date to the Secretary of Foreign Affairs, 
and repeating the assurance of his distinguished considera- 
tion. C. S. ToDU. 



MEMOIR OF GOVERNOR SHELBY. 

ISAAC SHELBY, the subject of this memoir, was born 
on the I ith day of December, 1750, near to the North 
Mountain, a few miles from Hagerstown, in Maryland, 
where his father and grandfather settled after their arrival 
in America from Wales. In that early settlement of the 
country, which was annoyed during the period of his youth 
by Indian wars, he obtained only the elements of a plain 
English education ; but, like his father General Evan Shelby, 
born with a strong constitution, capable of bearing great 
privation and fatigue, he was brought up to the use of arms 
and the pursuit of game. 

At the age of twenty-one, he took up his residence in 
Western Virginia, beyond the Alleghany Mountains, having 
previously acquired a knowledge of surveying and of the 
duties of sheriff at Fredericktown. He was engaged, in 
his new residence, in the business of feeding and attending 
to herds of cattle in the extensive range which distin- 
guished that section of countr>\ He was a lieutenant in 
the company of his father, the late General Evan Shelby, in 
the memorable battle fought lOth of October, 1774, at the 
mouth of the Kenhawa, at the close of which his father was 
the commanding officer. Colonels Lewis, Fleming, and 
Field having been killed or disabled. The result of this 
battle gave peace to the frontier, at the critical period of the 
Colonies venturing into the eventful contest of the revolu- 
tion, and deterred the Indians from uniting with the British 
until 1776. This was, probably, the most severely contested 
conflict ever maintained with the Northwestern Indians ; 
the action continued from sunrise to sunset, and the ground, 
for half a mile along the bank of the Ohio, was alternately 
occupied by each of the parties in the course of the day. So 
sano-uinary was the contest, that blood was found on each 

»57 



158 APPENDIX. 

side of the trees behind which the parties were posted. 
The Indians, under the celebrated chief Cornstalk, abandoned 
the ground under cover of the night. Their loss, according 
to the official report, exceeded that of the Americans ; the 
latter amounting to sixty-three killed and eighty wounded. 
This report was drawn up by Captain Russell, reputed to be 
the best scholar in camp, and the father of the late Colonel 
William Russell, of Kentucky. The fortune of the day, as 
stated in Doddridge's notes of " Border War," was decided 
by a bold movement to the rear of the left wing of the 
Indians, led by Captain Evan Shelby, in which the subject 
of this memoir bore a conspicuous part. 

The garrison at Kenhawa was commanded by Captain 
Russell, and Lieutenant Shelby continued in it until the 
troops were disbanded in July, 1775, by order of Governor 
Dunmore, who was apprehensive that the post might be 
held for the benefit of the rebel authorities. He proceeded 
immediately to Kentucky, and was employed as a surveyor 
under Henderson & Co., who styled themselves proprietors 
of the country, and who had established a regular land- 
office under their purchase from the Cherokees. He 
resided in the then wilderness of Kentucky for nearly 
twelve months, and, being witliout bread or salt, he re- 
turned home. 

In July, 1776, during his absence from home, he was 
appointed captain of a minute company by the committee 
of safety of Virginia. In the year of 1777 he was appointed 
by Governor Henr\' a commissary of supplies for an ex- 
tensive body of militia, posted at different garrisons to 
guard the frontier settlements, and for a treaty to be held 
at the Long Island of Holston river with the Cherokee tribe 
of Indians. These supplies could not have been obtained 
nearer than Staunton, Va., a distance of three hundred 
miles; but by the most indefatigable perseverance (one of 
the most conspicuous traits of his character) he accom- 
plished it to the satisfaction of his country. 

In 1778, he was engaged in the commissary department, 



MEMOIR OF GOVERNOR SHEL13Y. I 59 

providing supplies for the Continental army and for an 
expedition, by the way of Pittsburg, against the Northwest- 
ern Indians. In the early part of 1779, he was appointed, 
by Governor Henry, to furnish supplies for the campaign 
against the Chicamauga Indians, which he effected upon 
his oxvn individual credit. In the spring of that year he was 
elected a member of the Virginia Legislature from Washing- 
ton County; and in the fall of that year was commissioned 
a major, by Governor Jefferson, in the escort of guards to 
the commissioners for extending the boundary line between 
this State and North Carolina. By the extension of that 
line his residence was found to be within the limits of the 
latter State, and shortly afterwards he was appointed by 
Governor Caswell a colonel of the new county of Sullivan, 
established in consequence of the additional territory ac- 
quired by the securing of that line. 

In the summer of 1780 Colonel Shelby was in Kentucky, 
locating and securing those lands which he had five years 
previously marked out and improved for himself, when the 
intelligence of the surrender of Charleston, and the loss of 
the army, reached that country. He returned home in July 
of that year, determined to enter the service of his country, 
and remain in it until her independence should be secured. 
He could not continue to be a cool spectator of a contest 
in which the dearest rights and interests of his country 
were involved. On his arrival in Sullivan, he found a 
requisition from General Charles McDowell, requesting 
him to furnish all the aid in his power to check the enemy, 
who had overrun the two Southern States, and were on the 
borders of North Carolina. Colonel Shelby assembled the 
militia of his county, called upon them to volunteer their 
services for a short time on that interesting occasion, and 
marched, in a few days, with three hundred mounted rifle- 
men across the Alleghany Mountains. 

In a short time after his arrival at McDowell's Camp, 
near the Cherokee Ford of Broad River, Colonel Shelby and 
Lieutenant-Colonels Sevin and Clarke, the latter a refugee 



1 60 APPENDIX. 

officer from Georgia, were detached with six hundred men 
to surprise a post of the enemy, in front, on the waters of 
Pacolet river. It was a strong fort, surrounded by abattis, 
built in the Cherokee war, and commanded by that distin- 
guished loyalist. Captain Patrick Moore, who surrendered 
the garrison with one British sergeant-major, ninety-three 
loyalists, and two hundred and fifty stand of arms. Major 
Ferguson, of the British army, though a brigadier-general 
in the royal militia, and the most distinguished partisan 
officer in the British army, made many ineffectual efforts to 
surprise Colonel Shelby. His advance, about six or seven 
hundred strong, came up with the American commander 
at Cedar Spring, and, before Ferguson approached with his 
whole force, the Americans took two officers and fifty men 
prisoners, and safely effected their retreat. It was in the 
severest part of this action that Colonel Shelby's attention 
was arrested by the heroic conduct of Colonel Clarke. He 
often mentioned the circumstance of his ccasinsj in tiie 
midst of the battle to look with astonishment and admira- 
tion at Clarke's fighting. 

The next important event was the battle fought at 
Musgrove's Mill, on the south side of the Enoree river, dis- 
tant forty miles, with seven hundred men, led by Colonels 
Shelby, Clarke, and Williams, of South Carolina. This affair 
took place on the 19th of August, and is more particularly 
described in the sketch of Colonel Shelby, inserted in the 
first volume of the " National Portrait Gallery," published 
in 1834 under the direction of the American Academy of 
Fine Arts. It has been introduced into the historical 
romance called " llorse-Shoe Robinson," and noticed, also, 
in McCall's " History of Georgia," where the British loss is 
stated to be si.xty-three killed and one hundred and sixty 
wounded and taken; the American loss four killed and nine 
wounded, — among the former Captain Inman, and among 
the latter Colonel Clarke and Captain Clarke. Colonel 
Innes, the British commander of the " Queen's American 
Regiment," from New York, was wounded ; and all the 



MEMOIR OF GOVERNOR SHELBY. l6l 

British officers, except a subaltern, were killed or wounded; 
and Captain Hawsey, a noted leader among the Tories, was 
killed. The Americans intended to be, that evening, before 
Ninety-six ; but at that moment an express from General 
McDowell came up, in great haste, with a short note from 
Governor Caswell, dated on the battle-ground, apprising 
McDowell of the defeat of the American grand army, under 
General Gates, on the i6th, near Camden. Fortunately, 
Colonel Shelby knew Caswell's handwriting, and by dis- 
tributing the prisoners among the companies so as to make 
one to every three men, who carried them alternately on 
horseback, the detachment moved directly toward the 
mountains. The Americans were saved by a long and 
rapid march that day and night, and until the evening of 
the next day. without halting to refresh. Colonel Shelby, 
after seeing the party and prisoners out of danger, retreated 
to the Western waters, and left the prisoners in the charge 
of Clarke and Williams, to convey them to a place of safety 
in Virginia; for at that moment there was no corps of 
Americans south of that State. The brilliancy of this 
affair was obscured, as indeed were all the minor events of 
the previous war, by the deep gloom which overspread 
the public mind after the disastrous defeat of General 
Gates. 

Ferguson was so solicitous to recapture the prisoners, 
and to check these daring adventures of the mountaineers, 
that he made a strenuous effort, with his main body, to 
intercept them ; but failing of his object, he took post at a 
place called Gilberttown, from whence he sent the most 
threatening messages by paroled prisoners to the officers 
west of the mountains, proclaiming devastation to their 
country if they did not cease their opposition to the British 
Government. 

This was the most disastrous and critical period of the 
revolutionary war to the South. No one could see whence 
a force could be raised to check the enemy in their progress 
to subjugate this portion of the continent. 

21 



1 62 APPENDIX. 

Cornwallis, with the main army, was posted at Charlotte- 
town in North Carohna, and Ferguson, with three thou- 
sand, at Gilberttown ; while many of the best friends of 
the American Government, despairing of the freedom and 
independence of America, took protection under the British 
standard. At this gloomy moment, Colonel Shelby pro- 
posed to Colonels Sevin and Campbell to raise a force 
from their several counties, march hastily through the 
mountains, and attack and surprise Ferguson in the night. 
Accordingly, they collected with their followers, about 
one thousand strong, on Doe Run, in the spurs of the 
Alleghany, on the 25th of September, 1780, and the next 
day commenced their march, when it was discovered 
that three of Colonel Sevin's men had deserted to the 
enemy. This disconcerted their first design, and induced 
them to turn to the left, gain his front, and act as events 
might suggest. They travelled through mountains almost 
inaccessible to horsemen. As soon as they entered the 
level country, they met with Colonel Cleveland with three 
hundred men, and with Colonels Williams and Lacy, and 
other refugee officers, who had heard of Cleveland's ad- 
vance, by which three hundred more were added to the 
mountaineers. They now considered themselves to be 
sufficiently strong to encounter Ferguson ; but being rather 
a confused mass, without an\- head, it \\as proposed by 
Colonel Shell))- in a council of officers, and agreed to, that 
Colonel Campbell, of the Virginia Regiment, — an officer 
of enterprise, patriotism, and good sense, — should be 
appointed to the command. And haxing determined to 
pursue F"erguson, with all practicable dispatch, two nights 
before the action, they selected the best horses and rifles, 
and at the dawn of da\- commenced their march with nine 
hundred and ten expert marksmen. As F'erguson was their 
object, they would not be diverted from the main point by any 
collection of Tories in the \icinity of their route. They had 
pursued him for the last thirty-six hours without alighting 
from their horses to refresh but once — at the Cowpens — for 



MEMOIR OF GOVERNOR SHELBY. 1 63 

an hour, although the day of the action was so extremely 
wet that the men could only keep their guns dr\' by wrap- 
ping their bags, blankets, and hunting -shirts around the 
locks, which exposed their bodies to a heavy and incessant 
rain during the pursuit. 

By the order of march and of battle, Colonel Campbell's 
regiment formed the right, and Colonel Shelby's regiment 
the left column, in the centre ; the right wing was composed 
of Colonel Levier's regiment, and Major Winston's and '^ 
McDowell's battalions commanded by Levier himself; the 
left wing was composed of Colonel Cleveland's regiment, 
the followers of Colonels Williams, Lacy, Hawthorne, and 
Hill, headed by Colonel Cleveland in person. In this 
order the mountaineers pursued until they found Ferguson 
securely encamped on King's Mountain, which was about 
half a mile long, and from which he declared the evening 
before, that "God Almighty" could not drive him. On ap- 
proaching the mountain, the two centre columns deployed 
to the right and left, formed a front, and attacked the 
enemy, while the right and left wings were marching to 
surround him. In a few minutes the action became general 
and severe, — continuing furiously for three-fourths of an 
hour, — when the enemy, being driven from the east to the 
west end of the mountain, surrendered at discretion. 
Ferguson was killed, with three hundred and seventy-five 
of his officers and men, and seven hundred and thirty cap- 
tured. The Americans had sixty killed and wounded; of 
the former, Colonel Williams. This glorious achievement 
occurred at the most gloomy period of the Revolution, and 
was the first link in the great chain of events to the South 
which established the independence of the United States. 
History has heretofore, though improperly, ascribed this 
merit to the battle of the Cowpens, in January, 1781 ; but 
it belongs, justly, to the victory on King's Mountain, which 
turned the tide of war to the South, as the victor}' of 
Trenton under Washington, and of Bennington under Stark, 
did to the North. It was achieved by raw, undisciplined 



1 64 APPENDIX. 

riflemen, without any authority from the government under 
which they lived; without pay, rations, ammunition, or 
even the expectation of reward, other than that which re- 
sults from the noble ambition of advancing the liberty and 
welfare of their beloved country. It completely dispirited 
the Tories, and so alarmed Cornwallis, who then lay 
only thirty miles north of King's Mountain with the main 
British army, that, on securing information of Ferguson's 
total defeat and overthrow by the riflemen of the West, 
under Colonels Campbell, Shelby, Cleveland, and Levier, 
^\ and that they were bearing down upon him, he ordered an 

immediate retreat ; marched all night in the utmost confu- 
sion, and retrograded as far back as Trainsborough, sixty 
or eighty miles, whence he did not attempt to advance 
until reinforced three months after by General Leslie, with 
two thousand men from the Chesapeake. In the mean time 
the militia of North Carolina assembled in considerable 
force at New Providence, on the border of South Carolina, 
under General Davidson ; and General Small wood, with 
Morgan's light corps and the Maryland line, advanced to 
the same point. General Gates, with the shattered remains 
of his army collected at Hillsborough, also came up, as 
well as the new levies from Virginia, of one thousand men, 
under General Stevens. This force enabled General Green, 
who assumed the command early in December, to hold 
Cornwallis in check. 

The Legislature of North Carolina passed a vote of 
thanks to Colonel Shelby and several other officers, and 
directed each to be presented with an elegant sword for 
their patriotic conduct in the attacks and defeat of the 
* enemy on King's Mountain, on the memorable 7th of 
October, 1780. This resolution was carried into effect as 
to Colonel Shelby, in the summer of 1813, just at the mo- 
ment when, in the language of Secretary Monroe, "disclaim- 
ing all metaphwsical distinctions tending to enfeeble the 
Government," he was about to lead his troops far beyond 
the limits of the State of which he was Governor. The 



MEMOIR OF GOVERNOR SHELBY. 1 65 

presentation, at that particular time, afforded a presage of 
tlie new glory he was to acquire for himself and country in 
that eventful campaign. If any were entitled to special 
commendation in this band of heroic spirits on King's 
Mountain, the claim of Colonel Shelby would be well 
founded. He originated the expedition, and his valor and 
unshaken resolution contributed to rally the right of the 
front line, when driven down the mountain bv a tre- 
mendous charge from the enemy at the outset of the battle. 
Nor have the histories of the war in the South done justice 
to the sagacity and judgment of Colonel Shelby upon 
another interesting occasion just following the affair on 
King's Mountain. As soon as he had placed the prisoners 
beyond the reach of the enemy, he repaired to the head- 
quarters of General Gates, and suggested to him the plan 
of detaching General Morgan towards the mountains. The 
details of this arrangement were submitted by him, and 
approved by Gates, and Greene had the good sense to 
adopt them, after he assembled the command. The result 
of his advice was exhibited in the splendid affair at the 
Cowpens, which added fresh laurels to the veteran brows 
of Morgan, Hozcard, and Washington. 

In the campaign of the fall of 1781, Colonel Shelby 
served under General Marion, a distinguished partisan 
officer of the boldest enterprise. He was called down by 
General Greene to that lower country, with five hundred 
mounted riflemen from the Western waters, in September, 
1781, to aid the General in intercepting Cornwallis, at that 
time blockaded by the French fleet in the Chesapeake, and 
who, it was suspected, would endeavor to make good his 
retreat through North Carolina to Charleston ; but, upon 
his lordship's surrender in Virginia, Colonel Shelby was 
attached to General Marion's command below, on the 
Santee, and was second in command of a strong detach- 
ment of dragoons under Colonel Mayhew, ordered to carry 
a British post at Fairlawn, near Monk's Corner, eight or 
ten miles below the enemy's main army under General 



1 66 APPENDIX. 

Stuart. Information had been received by General Marion 
that five hundred Hessians, at that post, were in a state of 
mutiny, and would surrender to any considerable force that 
might appear before it. l^ut the officer commanding the 
post, having some apprehensions of their fidelity, had 
marched them off to Charleston the day before Colonel 
Mayhew appeared before it. The post, however, was sur- 
rendered with one hundred and fifty British prisoners. The 
British General at Ferguson's Swamp, nine miles in the 
rear, made great, though unavailing efforts to intercept 
Mayhew's party on their return with their prisoners to 
General Marion's encampment. Immediately after this 
excursion, the British commander retreated with his whole 
force to Charleston. 

As the period for which the mounted volunteers had 
engaged to serve was about to expire, and no further active 
operations being contemplated after the retreat of the 
enemy towards Charleston, Colonel Shelby obtained leave 
of absence from General Marion to attend the Assembly 
of North Carolina (of which he was a member), which 
w^ould sit two hundred miles distant, about the first of 
December. Marion addressed a letter on the subject to 
General Greene, which Colonel Shelby was permitted to 
.see, speaking in high terms of the conduct of the moun- 
taineers, and assigning particular credit to Colonel Shelby 
for his conduct in the capture of the British post, as it sur- 
rendered to him after an ineffectual attempt by an officer 
of the dragoons. 

In 1782 Colonel Shelby was elected a member of the 
North Carolina Assembly, and was appointed one of the 
commissioners to settle tiie preemption claims upon the 
Cumberland river, and to lay off the lands allotted to the 
officers and soldiers of the North Carolina line, south of 
where Nashville now stands. He performed this service 
in the winter of 1782-83, and returned to Boonsborough, 
Ky., in April following, where he married Susanna, second 
daughter of Captain Nathaniel Hart, one of the first 



MEMOIR OF GOVERNOR SHELBY. I 67 

settlers of Kentucky, and one of the proprietors styled 
Henderson & Co., by their purchase of the county from the 
Cherokees. 

He established himself on the first settlement and pre- 
emption granted in Kentucky, for the purpose of pursuing 
his favorite occupation, the cultivation of the soil ; and it 
is a remarkable fact, pregnant with many curious reflections, 
that, at the period of his death, forty-three years after, he 
was the only individual in the State residing upon his 
own settlement and preemption. He was a member of 
the early conventions held at Danville for the purpose of 
obtaining a separation from the State of Virginia; and 
was a member of that convention which formed the first 
constitution of Kentucky in April, 1792. In May following 
he was elected the first chief magistrate, and discharged its 
arduous duties with signal advantage to the State. The 
history of his administration of an infant republic in the 
remote wilderness would fill a volume with deeply inter- 
esting incidents, exhibiting him advantageously in the 
character of a soldier, of a lawgiver, and a diplomatist ; 
but the limits prescribed to this sketch will not permit a 
detail of them. 

After completing the organization of the government 
under the constitution by filling the various offices created 
by it, the earnest attention of the Governor was directed to 
the defence of the State against the Indian incursions and 
the border war to which the people were exposed by their 
remote and unprotected position in the wilderness. Gen- 
eral Washington's paternal regard to the same high object 
was manifested in the cautious and extensive arrangements 
which were made under the direction of General \Va\'ne 
for a strong expedition against the Northwestern Indians 
who were stimulated and aided by the British and pro- 
vincial forces occupying posts within our boundary. The 
confidence of Washington, as well as of the people of 
Kentucky, was reposed in the energy and patriotism of 
Governor Shelby. This was evinced in his almost unan- 



1 68 APPENDIX. 

imous election to the chief magistracy, as well as in the 
answer of the first legislature to his message, and in a 
letter from General Knox, Secretary of War, of July 12, 
1792. 

In the subsequent letter from the War Department, the 
defensive operations for the protection of Kentucky were 
committed exclusively to his judgment and discretion ; and, 
whenever there was a prospect of acting offensively against 
the Indians of the Northwest, the President made an ap- 
peal to his patriotism and that of the State in furnishing 
mounted volunteers in aid of the regular force. His energy 
and the gallantry of Kentucky was signally displayed in 
the valuable succor rendered to General Wayne on the 
memorable 20th of August, 1794. His enlightened fore- 
cast and the valor of Kentucky' contributed on this occasion, 
as on the equally glorious 5th of October, 18 13. the means 
of victory both in men and transportation, at a critical 
moment leading to victories more decisive in their results 
than any heretofore proven in Indian warfare. 

While the people of Kentuck\- were interrupted in their 
business and prosperity b\- the attention necessary to the 
progress of the Indian war, thev were annoyed bv con- 
tinued apprehensions of losing the navigation of the Mis- 
sissippi on which their commercial existence depended. 
In the midst of these difficulties, a new and unexpected 
occasion presented itself for the display of Governor Shelby's 
diplomatic sagacity. The complaints and remonstrances of 
the Spanish minister induced the general government to 
open a correspondence with Governor Shelby, for the pur- 
pose of suppressing an expedition, which was represented 
to be in contemplation by La Chaise and other French 
agents against the possessions of Spain on the Mississippi. 
Governor Shelby had no apprehensions that they would 
succeed in organizing the necessarj' force, and under this 
impression his reply to the Department of State, October 
5th, 1793, was forwarded without considering that he had 
not authority under existing laws to interfere in preventing 



MEMOIR OF GOVERNOR SHELBY. 1 69 

it. But the cfrantincf of commissions to General Clarke 
and other influential individuals, and the actual attempt to 
carry the plans of French emissaries into effect, induced 
the Governor to examine the subject more thoroughly; 
and, conceiving that he had no legal authority to interfere, 
he addressed a letter, January 13th, 1794, to the Secretary 
of State, expressing these doubts, and assuming an attitude 
which, though professing the most devoted regard to the 
Union, had the effect of drawing from the general Govern- 
ment a full development of the measures which had been 
pursued for securing the navigation of the Mississippi. 
These explanations by the Department of State and by the 
special commissioner, the eloquent Colonel James Innes, 
Attorney-General of Virginia, who was deputed by General 
Washington to proceed to Kentucky, to communicate with 
the Governor and Legislature, removed all ground for 
uneasiness, and created a tranquillity in the public mind 
which had not existed since the first settlement of the State, 
The whole subject was communicated by Governor 
Shelby to the Legislature on the 15th of November, 1794; 
and the part he took in it was approved by that body. 
The act of Congress, on the subject, passed after the re- 
ceipt of Governor Shelby's letter, shows conclusively that 
the legislature of the United States did not conceive that 
previously he had authority to interfere in the mode re- 
commended by the Department of State. This measure 
on the part of Governor Shelby, though it might seem to 
conflict with the opinions and policy of General Washing- 
ton, did not produce in the mind of the father of his coun- 
try any diminution of the respect and confidence he had 
theretofore reposed in him ; for, in May following, General 
Knox, Secretary of War, in a letter detailing the plans of 
the general government in relation to Wayne's proposed 
campaign, takes occasion to say that "the President, con- 
fiding in the patriotism and good disposition of your Ex- 
cellency, requests that you will afford all the facilities, 
countenance, and aid in your power, to the proposed expe- 
22 



I 70 APPENDIX. 

dition; and from which, if successful, the State of Ken- 
tucky will reap the most abundant advantages." In the 
next paragraph he is appointed president of the Board for 
selecting the field and company officers, and concludes 
with the assurance that General Wayne has been written 
to not to interfere in the defensive protection of Kentucky, 
which is hereby, in the name of the President of the United 
States, confided to your Excellency under the following 
general paragraph, (Sec, &c. 

At the close of his gubernatorial term, he returned to his 
farm, in Lincoln, with renewed relish for the cares and 
enjoyments which its management necessarily created. He 
was as distinguished for the method, and judgment, and 
industr}', which he displayed in agricultural pursuits, as he 
had exemplified in the more conspicuous duties of the 
general and statesman. He was the model of an elevated 
citizen, whether at the plough, in the field, or in the cabinet. 

He was repeatedly chosen an elector of President, and 
voted for Mr. Jefferson and Mr. Madison. He could not 
yield to the repeated solicitations of influential individuals 
in different parts of the State, requesting him to consent to 
be a candidate for the chief magistracy, until the exigencies 
of our national affairs had brought about a crisis which de- 
manded the services of every patriot. In this contingency 
he was elected, upon terms very gratifying to his feelings, 
a second time to the chief magistracy at the commencement 
of the war, in 1812, with Great Britain. Of his career at 
that eventful period it would be impracticable, in the limits 
v{ this sketch, to present even an outline. 

His energy, associated with a recollection of his revolu- 
tionary fame, aroused the patriotism of the State. In every 
direction he developed her resources, and aided in sending 
men and supplies to the support of the Northwestern army 
under General Harrison. The Legislature of Kentucky, in 
the winter of 1812-1813. contemplating the necessity of 
some vigorous effort in the course of that >'ear, to regain 
the ground lost by the disasters at Detroit and at the River 



MEMOIR OF GOVERNOR SHELBY. I7I 

Raisin, passed a resolution authorizing and requesting the 
Governor to assume the personal direction of the troops of 
the State, whenever in his judgment such a step would be 
necessary. Under this authority, and at the solicitation of 
General Harrison, he invited his countrymen to meet him 
at New Port, and accompany him to the scene of active, 
and, as he predicted, of decisive operations. Upon his 
own responsibility he authorized the troops to meet him 
with their horses. Four thousand men rallied to his 
standard in less than thirty days ; and this volunteer force 
reached the shore of Lake Erie, just in time to enable the 
commander-in-chief to profit by the splendid victory 
achieved by the genius and heroism of Perry and his 
associates. 

It was a most interesting incident, which augured favor- 
ably for the issue of the campaign, that Governor Shelby 
should arrive at the camp of General Harrison, precisely at 
the moment when Commodore Perry was disembarking 
his prisoners. The feelings of congratulation which were 
exchanged by the three heroes, at the tent of the General 
on the shore of Lake Erie, may be more readily conceived 
than described. The writer of this article had been previ- 
ously dispatched by General Harrison to Commodore 
Perry, to ascertain the result of the naval battle, and, re- 
turning with Perry, was present at this interview. 

In the organization which Governor Shelby made of his 
forces, he availed himself of the character and respectability 
of the materials at his command. 

Generals Henry and Desha were assigned to the com- 
mand of the two divisions, and General Calmes, Caldwell, 
King, Chiles, and Calloway to the brigades. His confiden- 
tial staff was composed, among other respectable citizens, 
of the names of Adair, Crittenden, and Barry, so well known 
in the history of the State and of the nation. As Governor 
of Kentucky, his authority ceased as soon as he passed the 
limits of the State; but the confidence of General Harrison 
and of all the troops in his judgment and patriotism was 



1-2 APPENDIX. 



so exalted, that he was regarded as the mentor of the 
campaign, and recognized as the senior major-general of 
the Kentucky troops. In the general order of march and 
of battle, the post assigned to him was the most important, 
and the subsequent battle evinced that the arrangement 
was as creditable to the sagacity of General Harrison as it 
was complimentary to the valor of Governor Shelby. 

In all the movements of the campaign, whether in council 
or execution, monuments of his valor and of his energetic 
character were erected by the gratitude of the commander- 
in-chief, of all his troops, and of the President of the nation, 
who spoke officially of his services with the veneration 
which belongs only to public benefactors. The Legislature 
of Kentucky and the Congress of the United States ex- 
pressed their sense of his gallant conduct in resolutions 
which will transmit his name to posterity as a patriot with- 
out reproach, and a soldier without ambition. 

The vote of Congress, assigning to him and to General 
Harrison each a gold medal commemorative of the decisive 
victory on the Thames, was delayed one session in con- 
sequence of some prejudice prevailing in the public mind 
in relation to General Harrison. As soon as Governor 
Shelby was advised of this fact, he solicited his friends in 
Congress, through Mr. Clay, to permit no expression of 
thanks to him, unless associated luith the name of General 
Harrison. This magnanimous conduct and the unqualified 
commendation which he gave of the career of General 
Harrison on that campaign, connected with a favorable 
report of a committee at the next session of Congress, 
instituted at the request of the General, of which Colonel 
R. M. Johnson was chairman, led to the immediate adop- 
tion of the original resolution. 

Governor Shelby was unremitting in the aid which he 
extended to the operations of the general government 
during the war. He furnished troops to defend the country 
around Detroit, and dispatched an important reinforcement 
to General Jack.son for the defence of New Orleans. His 



MEMOIR OF GOVERNOR SHELBY. I 73 

sagacity led him to send General Adair, as adjutant-general 
with the rank of brigadier- general, to meet the precise 
contingency, which actually occurred, of General Thomas 
beine sick or disabled. The result of this measure was ex- 
hibited in the critical succor afforded by General Adair on 
the memorable 8th of January. In the civil administration 
of the State, Governor Shelby's policy continued to estab- 
lish and confirm the sound principles of his predecessors.^ 
Integrity, fidelity to the Constitution, and capacity, were 
the qualifications which he required in public officers ; and 
his recommendations in the Legislature enforced a strict 
regard to public economy and to the claims of public faith. 
In the fall of i8i6 his term expired, and he retired again to 
the sweets of domestic life, in the prosecution of his favorite 
pursuit. 

In March, 1817, he was selected by President Monroe 
to fill the Department of War ; but his advanced age, the 
details of the office, and his desire in a period of peace to 
remain in private life, induced him to decline an acceptance 
of it. In 18 18, he was commissioned by the President to 
act, in conjunction with General Jackson, in forming a treaty 
with the Chickasaw tribe of Indians, for the purchase of 
their lands west of Tennessee river within the limits of 
Kentucky and Tennessee, and they obtained a cession of 
the territory of the United States, which unites the Western 
population, and adds greatly to the defence of the country 
in the event of future wars with the savages or with any 
European power. This was his last public act. 

In February, 1820, he was attacked with a paralytic 
affection, which disabled his right arm, and which was the 
occasion of his walking lame on the right leg. His mind 
continued unimpaired until his death by apoplexy on the 
1 8th July, 1826, in the seventy-sixth year of his age. It 
was a consolation to his afflicted family to cherish the 
hope that he was prepared for this event. In the vigor of 
life he professed it to be his duty to dedicate himself to 
God, and to seek an interest in the merits of the Redeemer. 



174 



API'ENDIX. 



He had been for many years a member of the Presbyterian 
Church ; and in his latter days he was the chief instru- 
ment in erecting a house of worship upon his own land. 
The vigor of his constitution fitted him to endure active 
and severe bodily exercise, and the energetic symmetry of 
his person, united with a peculiar suavity of manner, ren- 
dered his deportment impressively dignified ; his strong, 
natural sense was aided by close observation on men and 
things; and the valuable qualities of method and persever- 
ance imparted success to all his efforts. 




STUDIES IN LITERATURE. 
By G. W. griffin, 

UNITED STATES CONSUL AT COPENHAGEN. 

^cb ^icbiscb €bitioit, 
12mo. $1.75. 

CLAXTON, EEMSEN & HAFFELFINGER, 

PHILADELPHIA. 



From the Philadelphia Age, 
The volume opens with a portraiture of George D. Prentice, the 
widely known editor of tlie Louisville "Journal." The author was 
his pers. nal friend. The insight which it gives into the ciiaracter of 
Mr. Prer.tice, will interest all who have heard of his prose and poetry. 
Besides a number of careful and very original criticisms on the Plays 
of Shakspei.re, we find two articles on Booth's Hamlet and Macbeth. 
Our national pride in the fame of this dramatic artist is a warrant that 
these notices of him will be read, and they will be found to contain 
the best elements of criticism, intelligence, and good taste. 

From the Philadelphia Press, 

Varied in its range of subject, rich in thought, light and graceful in 

treatment and st\le, and the result of wide and conscientious study, we 

can commend this volume unhesitatingly as an admirable selection for 

general reading. /Esthetically, its educational influence will be most 

happy. 

From the New York Home Journal. 

Mr. Griffin treats, in the present volume, twenty-two subjects with 
wonderful originality and clearness. Poets, actors, dramatists, and 
philologists whose names are familiar to the educated of both hemi- 
spheres, are sketched with rare skill ; and one lingers over his de- 
scriptions, and his chaste, beautiful English, with no ordinary pleasure. 

From the Cincinnati Enquirer. 
The best notice we have ever seen of Mr. Prentice and his works, is 
from the pen of Mr. Griffin — the first of a series of biographical sketches 
in this volume. It is characterized, as all his articles are, by historical 
and literary research, by great purity of diction and vigor of style. 

From the New Orleans Times. 
A new edition of a work very fivorably received upon its first pub- 
lication. It consists of a series of essays upon prominent topics, in- 
cluding some excellent theatrical reviews, written in chaste style, and 
with considerable powet The work will commend itself to al' I 



From the Carlisle Mercury, 
It is, indeed, as is indicated by its title, a study in literature, and 
should be in the hands of every intelligent person. 

From R. Shelton Mackenzie. 

The recollections of the laie Geo. D. Prentice, the great newspaper 
editor, are so considerably extended as indeed to form a satisfactory 
biography. Mr. Griffin handles his subject with delicacy and vigor; 
he doth " nothing extenuate," but presents a true portrait of one who 
was very eminent in his profession, who might (and ought to)have stood 
in the van of American literati, but who, in newspaper work, on which 
his life was spent — ■ 

" To party gave up what was meant for mankind." 

Through Mr. Griffin, in this sketch, a very intimate knowledge of 
Prentice and his varying moods of mind can be formed. Not alone 
his readiness and wit, but the tenderness and poetry of his nature are 
brought before the reader. Considering how fugitive is the fame of 
even the greatest of the journalistic craft, very fortunate has George D. 
Prentice been in having such a permanent memorial from the friend- 
ship, the ability, and the judgment of Mr. Griffin. 

From Paul R, Shipman, 

This interesting volume deserves all the praise it has received. It 
is characterized by deep thought, careful research, mature judgment, 
and rhetorical grace of very high order. Mr. Griffin calls his essays 
studies. If they are studies, what may we not expect from his mature 
performances! The world, I predict, will not have to wait long to 
see. 

From Henry T. Stanton, 

The first pages in this valuable lx)ok are devoted to a sketch of the 
life and character of Mr. Prentice, and a higlily interesting account of 
his death. We have never read a more impressive article. Wliile it 
contains every elegance requisite to finished writing, it is full of that 
irrepressible feeling, that genuine warmth of attachment, for which 
mere words are no medium of expression. The author has put his 
heart in his labor, and all his essays appear inspired. 

From the Louisville Courier Journal. 
Next to a good hater, we like an ardent lover. Nc one can read 
the sketch of Geo. D. Prentice's life in the revised and enlarged edi- 
tion of Mr. Griffin's Studies in Literature, without being impressed by 
liie warm and enthusiastic tribute to that remarkable editor and man 
of letters. It is the eulogy of a friend who can only speak of what 
was noble and wise. 2 



From the Philadelphia Post. 
Mr. Griffin is an easy writer. Some of his criticisms and general 
essays indicate the faithful and studious course of reading pursued. 
His essay on V'alhek and its author details many interesting points not 
known to the general reader. A F^hilological Study coniams much 
useful information. The examples taken in illustration, prove to what 
an extent the English language is misused. 

From the Savannah, Ga., Republican. 
Mr. Griffin is a conscientious and jiainstaking writer. The intimacy 
which existed between him and the great statesman, journalist, and phi- 
losopher Prentice, was one of the most cordial character, and the writer 
of this note can vouch for the fidelity with which Mr. GrifTin has told 
the story of the great man's life, and presented to the reader a pen- 
picture of the closing scene of a great career. 

From the Louisville Commercial. 
The new revised edition of G. W. Griffin's Studies in Literature 
has been accepted as a text-book by the faculty of " Forest Academy," 
and will hereafter be used as a rea(ling-l)ook for the advanced scholars 
of this well-known institution of learning. 

From the Detroit Free Press. 
The most noticeable of these papers, which Mr. Griffin is so kind as 
to call "studies," is a memoir of the late George D. Prentice, of the 
Louisville " Journal." In fact, it was the success which this paper met 
with upon its first publication which has induced the writer to rewrite 
and enlarge it, and to give it the place of honor in the second edition. 
The author writes with a gracefulness of diction which is evidently 
the result of long practice. 

From the Boston Literary World. 
"Studies in Literature" consists of a collection of essays on literary, 
biographical, and dramatic subjects, generally well written, and evi- 
dently the work of a refined and cultivated mind. 

From the Frankford (Kentucky) Yeoman, 
The very large sale of the first edition of this tasteful, valuable, and 
substantial contribution to American literature, by a gifted Kentuckian, 
was not unanticipated by Mr. Griffin's immediate friends, and fully 
justifies the warm greeting and cordial recognition accorded it by the 
"Yeoman" upon its first appearance. 

From the Louisville Jeffersonian Democrat, 
The book is the product of careful research and mature thought. 
It compares most favorably in these respects with the best literature 
of this country. 3 



From the Louisville Evening Sun. 
From enrly boyhood Mr. Grifim has been an enthusiastic philomatli 
He is a "hook-worm." He has been a contributor to tlie daily and 
weekly press of Louisville for years, and has won for himself an envi- 
able reputation as a polisher of sentences, as well as for his deep re- 
search and thorough knowledge of the most intricate and literary 

subjects. 

From the Toledo American. 

It is certainly to the credit of " Studies in Literature," by G. W. 

Griffin, that such a publishing house as that of Claxton, Remsen, & 

Haffelfinger find it worth their while to issue a second edition. 

From the Sunday Herald. 
The writer shows that he is no novice in the field of criticism, and 
his work fully justifies the success which has compelled the publishers 
to bring out this second edition. 

From the Louisville Ledger. 

The present edition of " Studies in Literature" is handsomely gotten 
up, as regards typography, paper, and binding, and is, on the whole, 
vastly superior to the first. Tlie work has been stereotyped, and we 
shall not be surprised to see it run through a half dozen editions. 
From the Transatlantic Magazine, 

Mr. Griffin's sketch of the lamented Prentice will be read with inter- 
est and satisfaction by the numerous admirers of that rarely gifted man. 
Philadelphians will read with pleasure this author's able, impartial, 
and very laudatory review of Dr. R. Shelton MacKenzie's " Life of 

Dickens." 

From the Washington Capital, 

The author of this handsome volume has embodied the results of his 
tastes and readings in literature in a very agreeable and satisfactory 
manner on a variety of interesting topics. The leading chapter in the 
book, however, is perhaps the most valuable, because it gives us an 
insight into the life and character and the editorial career of George D. 
Prentice, who was, during his latter years, an intimate personal friend 
of the author. Mr. Griffin devotes nearly a hundred pages to his remi- 
niscences of, and the literary and journalistic historj' of Mr. Prentice. 



CLAXTON, EEMSEN & HAFFELFINGER 

ALSO PUBLISH 

Prenticeana; or, "Wit and Humor in Paragraphs, By 

Gi:i)K(;fc: D. I'kemice. New Edition, with BiograjilHcal Sketch 

of llie Author, by G. W. Griirin, U. S. Consul at Cojienhagen, author 

of "Studies in Literature." i2mo. Cloth. $1.50. 4 



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